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THE  BIBLE 

AND 

OTHER  ANCIENT  LITERATURE 

IN   THE 

NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


By  L.  T.  TOWNSEND  D.D, 

professor  in  boston  university,  author  of  "  credo " 
"thb  art  of  speech"  etc. 


^dflO- 


NEW  YORK 

Chautauqua  Press 

C.  L.  S.  C.  Department 
1889, 


M 


The  required  books  of  the  C.  L.  S.  C.  are  recommended  by  a 
Council  of  Six.  It  must,  however,  be  understood  that  recom- 
mendation does  not  involve  an  approval  by  the  Council,  or  by 
any  member  of  it,  of  every  principle  or  doctrine  contained  in  the 
book  recommended. 


Copyright,  1884,  by  L.  T.  Townsend. 


PREFACE. 


Under  the  title,  "The  Bible  and  Sci- 
ence," the  substance  of  this  little  volume 
was  put  into  shape,  at  the  request  of  Dr. 
J.  H.  Vincent,  and  delivered  in  1874  at 
the  initial  meeting  of  what  is  now  the 
famous  Chautauqua. 

Under  the  title,  "  The  Bible  in  the  Light 
of  Modern  Science,"  it  was  preached  before 
the  society  of  the  First  Parish  Church  of 
Dover,  N.H.  ;  and  by  that  society  was 
published  in  1883. 

Under  its  present  title,  essentially  the 
same  subject-matter  was  delivered    in    a 

iii 


iv  Preface. 

course  of  lectures  before  the  "  Free  Baptist 
Association,"  at  Ocean  Park,  1884,  and 
requested  for  publication.  This  request, 
together  with  a  second  one  from  Dr. 
Vincent,  is  our  justification  for  adding  this 
treatise  to  the  very  large  amount  of  existing 
Biblical  literature. 

If  the  reader  takes  as  much  pleasure 
in  perusing  these  pages  as  the  author  has 
taken  in  preparing  them,  the  latter  will  feel 
amply  compensated  for  the  service  ren- 
dered. 


CONTENTS. 


TAez 

The  pivotal  question 1 

Re-examination  of  Bible  authority 2 

General  proposition 3 

The  Bible  responsible  for  its  scientific  errors     i  4 

The  Bible  and  the  exact  language  of  science    .  9 

The  Bible  and  scientific  classification  ....  14 
A  hint  that  the  Author  of  nature  is  the  Author 

of  the  Bible 17 

Supposed  antagonism  between  science  and  the 

Bible 19 

An  illustration  of  the  supposed  antagonism  .  20 
Actual  conflicts  between  science  and  the  Bible; 

and  science  in  error 22 

Illustrated  by  the  statements  of  eminent  men  .  23 

An  important  rule 26 

Caution  needed 27 

A  fuller  classification  of  Bible  contents  ...  28 
The  same  rule  governs  Bible  interpretation  as 

governs  the  interpretation  of  other  literature  .  30 

The  connection  is  decisive 30 

V 


vi  Contents, 


FAOK 

Absolute  truth 31 

The  Bible  and  other  ancient  literature  brought 

together 31 

The  art  of  healing,  and  the  Bible 32 

From  1184  B.C.  to  500  B.C 32 

From  500  B.C.  to  320  B.C 33 

Medical  practice  in  recent  times 34 

The  Bible,  if  divine,  must  not  be  in  error     .    .  36 

The  Bible  found  not  to  be  in  error 36 

Certain  approved  physiological  revelations  .    .  37 

Testimony  of  eminent  physicians 41 

Matters  closely  related  to  medical  science     .    .  45 

An  important  question 61 

The  human  mind  and  the  Bible 51 

Opinions  of  the  ancients  as  to  the  mind  ...  52 
What  guarded  the  Bible-writers  against  false 

opinions? 54 

Not  their  supposed  non-philosophical  character,  54 
Correctness  of  Bible  statements  in  the  light  of 

modern  thought 56 

The  moral  argument  derived  from  Bible  influ- 
ence    57 

Mental  methods  in  the  Bible 59 

Examples  of  inductive  reasoning 60 

Dependence  of  the  modern  method  upon  the 

Bible  method 63 

How  shall  the  correctness  of  Bible  psychology 

be  explained  ? 65 

The  Bible  in  its  relation  to  government  and 

civilization 66 


Contents.  vii 

PAOB 

The  Bible,  if  inspired,  a  court  of  ultimate  ap- 
peal   67 

The  Bible  and  law 67 

The  Bible  revered  by  eminent  lawyers     ...  69 

Obligation  of  Roman  law  to  the  Bible  ....  70 
The  constitutional  law  of  England,  and  the 

Bible 71 

The  Bible  and  political  science 72 

The  Bible  indorsed  by  eminent  statesmen     .    .  73 

~  Secret  of  England's  greatness 74 

"  The  Holy  Alliance  " 75 

Declaration  of  Independence 76 

Republican  government 77 

Benefits  of  Bible  faith  and  practice 77 

The  Bible  and  the  United  States 80 

Opinions  of  Daniel  Webster,  William  H.  Sew- 

— ard,  and  Prof(!Ssor  Bowen 81 

The  Bible  and  civilization 86 

Learning  and  literature 86 

Architecture 90 

Quotation  from  Ruskin 93 

The  Bible  and  the  history  of  civilization  .         .  95 

Commonwealth  of  Israel 95 

Ancient  civilizations 95 

Greece  and  Rome 96 

Heathen  lands 97 

MediJBval  times ...  98 

Modern  Europe 99 

Another  important  question     • 101 

Th«  Bible  and  natural  history 103 


viii  Contents. 


PAGE 

Botany 103 

Zoology 105 

Meteorology 107 

Opinion  of  Lieut.  Mau^y Ill 

The  Bible  and  geology 113 

Teachings  of  the  ancients  as  to  the  origin  of 

things 114 

Sir  William  Thomson  gives  expression  to  mod- 
ern opinion 117 

Opinions  of  eminent  men  as  to  the  geology  of 

the  Bible 120 

The  Bible  and  astronomy 130 

A  test  question ,  132 

Ancient  astrology 134 

In  Egypt 136 

In  Babylon 137 

In  Chaldaea 137 

In  Persia 138 

In  Arabia 138 

In  Europe 138 

The   Bible  writers  were  familiar  with   these 

views,  but  never  adopted  them 140 

Ancient  astronomy 143 

The  earth:  its  shape,  foundation,  and  composi- 
tion   143 

The  moon:  its  composition,  size,  and  distance  .  146 

The  sun:  its  character  and  size 148 

The  stars 149 

Comets 150 

The  Milky  Way 151 


Contents.  ix 

PAGE 

Number  and  distances  of  the  stars 151 

Why  did  not  Bible-writers  make  similar  state- 
ments?  153 

Other  important  revelation 3*in  the  Bible  .    .    .  157 

The  Bible;  its  morals  and  religion 163 

Comparisons   between    Bible    teachings     and 

those  of  other  ancient  literature 163 

Unfavorable  criticisms 167 

The  rigorous  measures  enjoined  in  the  Bible 

against  the  Canaanites 171 

Imprecations  in  the  Psalms 175 

David's  command  to  execute  Joab 177 

The  Bible  the  text-book  on  moral  science  .  .  178 
Objections  to  the  purity  of  Bible  morality  .  .  181 
Results  of  an  abandonment  of  Bible  morality, 

as  in  England  and  France 183 

Bible  morality  indorsed  even  by  men  in  some 

respects  sceptics 186 

Still  another  important  question 189 

The  Bible  and  theology 190 

Science   confirms   Bible   Theology,  but   adds 

nothing  essentially  new 192 

The  Bible  and  religious  truth 195 

Bible  religion  originated  practical  philanthropy,  196 
Bible  religion  adapted  to  all  peoples  ....  199 
Why  did  not  some  of  the  philosophers  of  the 

ancient  world  invent  a  universal  religion  ?  .  200 
Concluding  words    . 202 


THE  BIBLE 


l^IE'ETEENTH    CENTURY. 


Was  the  Bible  written  and  compiled 
by  men  providentially  selected,  directed, 
and  illuminated  by  the  Holy  ^^^  p,^^^^ 
Spirit  or  did  it  come  into  ^uest*""- 
its  present  shape  somewhat  by  chance, 
having  been  written  as  other  books  are 
written,  and  compiled  by  irresponsible 
persons  whose  words  and  work  may  be 
accepted  or  rejected  at  the  pleasure  of 
every  reader  is  essentially  the  twofold 
question  which  at  the  present  time  is 
much  discussed  and  variously  answered. 

1 


The  Bible  and  the 


It  looks  somewhat  as  if  a  re-exam- 
ination of  the  entire  subject  of  Bible 
Re-examina-    authority  will  be  demanded, 

tion  of  Bible 

authority.  and  quite  generally  and  vig- 
orously entered  upon,  in  the  near 
future.  If  this  is  to  be  the  case,  we 
need  not  object :  besides,  our  objection 
will  be  useless.  But  in  this  re-ex- 
amination and  re-statement,  one  thing 
should  be  strenuously  insisted  upon: 
that  the  work  done  shall  not  be  super- 
ficial, but  thorough.  The  generally 
received  views  as  to  the  origin  and 
history  of  the  Bible,  its  genuineness 
and  authenticity,  its  credibility  and  in- 
spiration, must  not  be  decided  against 
except  for  cause.  The  new  investiga- 
tions must  be  patient  and  untiring. 
New  views  should  not  be  adopted  be- 


Nineteenth  Century. 


cause  a  few  men  say  they  ought  to  be ; 
but,  rather,  the  views  adopted  must  be 
at  least  more  reasonable  than  those  re- 
jected. It  is  not  a  question  of  opinion, 
but  of  evidence,  with  the  burden  of 
proof  resting  upon  the  attacking  party. 
We  may  add,  that  our  personal  inclina- 
tions in  this  impending  controversy  are 
conservative;  and  this  pamphlet  is  de- 
signed as  a  contribution  not  merely  in 
the  interest  of  conservative  orthodoxy, 
but  equally  in  the  interest  of  what  we 
believe  to  be  God's  truth  and  man's 
welfare. 

It  is  scarcely  possible,  within  the  lim- 
its of  the  brief  discussion  intended,  to 
canvass    all    the    important  General 
questions    involved    in    the  p'^po*"'""- 
general  subject.     We  therefore  ask  at- 


The  Bible  and  the 


tention  to  a  single  proposition :  The 
Bible,  though  not  professing  to 
teach  science,  is,  when  correctly 
interpreted,  in  harmony  with  all 
established  facts  of  science,  and 
in  this  respect  differs  widely, 
from  other  ancient  literature. 

One  or  two  preliminary  thoughts 
claim  a  passing  notice.  The  reader  is 
The  Bible  is  a  Ware  that  the  Bible,  even 
fr,?st;:„.  ^^y  some  of  its  professed 
tiflc  errors,  friends,  is  said  to  be  not  a 
treatise  upon  science,  and  not,  there- 
fore, to  be  held  responsible  for  scientific 
errors.  But  can  such  a  position  be 
safely  taken?  If  the  Bible  is  a  book 
of  God,  as  is  claimed,  may  it  not  be 
questioned  —  rigidly  questioned  —  re- 
specting every  thing  upon  which  it  ven- 


Nineteenth  Century. 


tures  to  speak?  Is  the  Bible  a  book 
that  asks  at  our  hands  a  cowardly  de- 
fence, or  any  thing  like  special  pleading? 
When,  therefore,  the  man  of  partial  be- 
lief in  revelation  says,  "  The  Bible  was 
not  intended  to  teach  science,  therefore 
we  can  excuse  its  scientific  inaccura- 
cies," we  reply,  "No;  for  if  the  Bible 
is  filled  with  false  teachings  as  to  the 
facts  of  matter,  or  the  facts  of  mind, 
then  it  no  longer  bears  the  impress  of 
a  book  inspired  of  God,  but  bears  the 
marks  of  human  origin,  and  belongs 
among  books  which  shortly  may  become 
obsolete  and  forgotten." 

If  allowed  at  one  point,  there  would 
be  scarcely  any  limit  in  this  process  of 
excuse-making.  For  some  one  else, 
with  just  as  great  propriety,  might  say, 


The  Bible  and  the 


"  The  Bible  is  not  intended  to  teach  any 
of  the  departments  of  human  pliiloso- 
phy,  therefore  we  may  excuse  its  errors 
in  philosophy."  Another  might  say, 
"The  Bible  is  not  intended  to  teach 
history,  therefore  its  historic  mis-state- 
ments, of  whatever  character,  may  be 
allowed."  Mr.  Murray,  in  one  of  his 
Music-hall  Sermons,  employs  this  lan- 
guage :  "  The  Bible  is  a  book  that  should 
be  read  like  other  books,  in  a  broad  and 
comprehensive  way.  .  .  .  The  length  of 
the  creation  period,  the  tonnage  of  the 
ark,  Samson's  strength,  the  guerrilla 
skirmishes  of  the  Judges,  the  ram's-horn 
signals  in  front  of  the  walls  of  Jericho, 
—  these  are  questions  about  which  no 
sensible  Christian  cares  a  fig." 

Now,  though  the  confession  exposes 


Nineteenth  Century. 


us  to  the  charge  of  narrowness  and  dog- 
matism, still  we  do  not  see  how  any- 
devout  and  thoughtful  Christian  can 
help  caring  much,  very  much,  whether 
or  not  these  records  of  the  Bible  which 
purport  to  narrate  facts  are  true  or 
false.  Their  truthfulness  or  their  fals- 
ity makes,  and  ought  to  make,  all  the 
difference  imaginable  concerning  our 
faith  in  the  book.  "A  man,"  Dr.  Crosby 
puts  the  case,  "might  be  imagined  as 
making  a  mistake  in  his  views  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  yet  be  true  to  his  morals  and 
philosophy ;  but  God,  never.  If  God  err/ 
anywhere,  he  is  no  God."  That  is,  the 
eyes  of  the  Infinite  Being  must  have  trav- 
ersed the  universe  through  and  through, 
and  have  seen  beyond  the  range  of  the 
mightiest  telescope,   while    the   micro- 


The  Bible  and  the 


scope  can  reveal  nothing  that  has  not 
first  felt  the  finishing  touch  of  his  crea- 
tive fingers.  If,  therefore,  there  are 
scientific  errors  in  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  it  follows  that  the  book  is  not  in 
a  special  sense  God's  book,  and,  there- 
fore, its  claims  upon  us  are  not  supreme. 
Is  not  this  position  liberal  enough  ?  But 
we  repeat,  the  interests  at  stake  are  of 
such  magnitude  that  our  final  judgments 
must  not  be  hasty ;  and  before  they  are 
rendered,  these  matters  called  the  facts 
of  science  must  be  well  established,  and 
there  must  be  correctness  in  scriptural 
interpretation. 

Another  thought  to  be  borne  in  mind 
is  this:  While,  according  to  the  views 
we  seek  to  maintain,  the  Bible  nowhere 
teaches  what  is  scientifically  false,  nev- 


I^neteenth  Century.  9 

ertheless  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
Bible  does  not  employ  in  its  teachings 
the   exact  language    of    sci-  iheBibie 

TTi  ■  ■  J    and  the  exact 

ence.  Errors  m  science,  and  ,a„yuageof 
the  non-use  of  scientific  die-  sc*«""=®' 
tion,  are  things  entirely  different.  If, 
therefore,  the  non-nse  of  professional 
words  and  style  is  a  fault,  then  of  course 
the  Bible  is  open  to  criticism.  But  are 
its  diction  and  style  upon  these  grounds 
objectionable?  In  these  respects,  does 
not  the  Bible  speak  as  all  scientific 
as  well  as  all  sensible  people  often 
speak  ?  Visiting  the  large  observatories 
in  this  or  any  other  country,  would  you 
expect  to  hear  from  the  lips  of  astrono- 
mers any  thing  but  "  sunrise  "  or  "  sun- 
set" in  references  to  these  phenomena? 
When  the  great  Herschel  left  orders  for 


10  The  Bible  and  the 

his  servant  to  call  him  to  observe  the 
passage  of  some  star,  he  did  not  say., 
"Sir,  when,  in  the  revolution  of  the 
earth  upon  its  axis,  the  illuminated  ray 
shall  be  brought  upon  the  earth's  sur- 
face at  the  longitude  and  latitude  of  the 
observatory  at  Greenwich,  then  call 
me ; "  nor  did  he  employ  any  other 
scientific  terminology:  but  he  was  ac- 
customed, like  a  sensible  man,  to  say, 
"  John,  call  me  at  sunrise,"  or  "  at  sun- 
set," or  "  at  midnight." 

Scientific  men  the  world  over  have 
been  speaking  for  a  year  or  more  of  the 
unaccountable  redness  preceding  the 
sunrise^  and  of  the  blazing  sunsets  which 
have  been  reported  from  every  part  of 
the  world.  But,  strictly  speaking,  such 
language  is  not  scientific  or   correct: 


Nineteenth  Century.  11 

the  sun  does  not  rise  and  set.  Wh}', 
therefore,  should  not  these  men  be  con- 
demned for  their  inaccuracies  of  expres- 
sion ?  If  the  sceptic  insists  upon  scien- 
tific expressions,  then  there  must  be  in- 
troduced a  scientific  nomenclature  into 
our  ordinary  conversation.  The  good 
housewife  must  speak  of  the  "  chloride 
of  sodium  "  instead  of  salt ;  of  HgO  in- 
stead of  water ;  and  of  C12H20O10  instead 
of  starch.  "  Will,  you  have  a  second 
piece  of  roast  beef?  "  was  the  question 
asked  of  a  young  lady  who  had  just 
returned  from  a  boarding-school.  "No, 
thanks,"  she  replied  :  " gastronomical  sa- 
tiety admonishes  me  that  I  have  arrived 
at  a  state  of  deglutition  consistent  with 
dietetic  integrity."  Common  speech 
would  say,  "  Thank  you,  I  have   eaten 


12  The  Bible  and  the 

enough."  Is  not  that  as  well  ?  "  My 
perpendicularity  suddenly  became  a  hor- 
izontality,"  has  recently  been  substi- 
tuted for  "  I  suddenly  fell."  The  reply, 
therefore,  to  those  who  claim,  that,  be- 
cause the  Bible  speaks  of  sunrise  and 
sunset,  it  thereby  teaches,  for  instance, 
that  the  earth  is  stationary,  is  this :  It 
no  more  teaches  it  than  did  Sir  John 
Herschel  when  he  spoke  of  sunrise  and 
sunset.  Indeed,  a  man  must  be  very 
hard  pressed  for  something  to  say 
against  the  Bible,  when  he  allows  him- 
self to  use  such  unreasonable  objections. 
A  further  reply  to  those  who  object 
to  the  use  of  unscientific  terminology 
in  the  Bible  is  this :  The  Bible  was 
written  for  the  "care-crossed,  toil- 
stained,"  suffering  millions  of  the  hu- 


Nineteenth  Century.  13 

man  race,  —  those  who  have  no  time  to 
master  the  terms  of  the  schools,  —  and 
for  such  people  Bible  language  is  per- 
fectly adapted:  it  is  sweet,  precious, 
inspiring. 

But  notice  this  singular  additional 
fact:  Some  of  the  most  distinguished 
scientists  and  philosophers  of  England, 
France,  and  Germany,  at  present  more 
than  ever  before,  are  seeking  to  put 
their  thoughts  into  expressions  which 
may  be  easily  comprehended  by  the 
American  farmer,  and  mechanic.  They 
are  beginning  to  see  that  it  is  not  best 
to  lock  up  scientific  truths  in  profes- 
sional nomenclature.  But,  in  adopting 
this  new  method,  they  are  employing, 
you  notice,  the  language  of  literature, 
of  poetry,  of  emotion,  and  of  common 


14  Tlie  Bible  and  the 

life ;  which  are  precisely  the  Bible  style 
and  method. 

Again :  while  insisting  that  the  Bible 
nowhere  teaches  what  is  scientifically 
The  Bible       falsc,  stiU  it  is   not   claimed 

««fccfa?si.  *^^^  *^®  ^'^^^^  adopts  any 
flcation.  thing  like  scientific  classifi- 
cation of  the  facts  revealed.  There  is 
apparently  no  attempt  at  such  classifi- 
cation. Indeed,  upon  a  cursory  exam, 
ination,  there  seem  to  be  in  Bible 
statements  much  confusion  and  many 
contradictions. 

But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that 
nature  too,  at  first  sight,  seems  very 
unorderly  and  self-contradictory.  Take, 
for  illustration,  the  facts  of  geology. 
The  data  which  nature  gives  are,  upon 
a    superficial    view,    often    confusing 


Nineteenth   Century.  15 

Men  have  seen  rocks;  they  have  used 
fragments  of  them  for  walls,  fortifica- 
tions, house-building,  have  twirled  them 
from  slings,  and  made  from  them  arrow- 
heads; they  have,  too,  known  some  of 
the  uses  of  loam,  clay-banks,  and  gravels 
beds.  But  they  did  not  discover  a 
classification  of  them.  It  has  been  only 
after  years  of  patient  investigation  by 
such  men  as  Professors  Forbes,  Lyell, 
and  Hitchcock,  and  by  noted  French 
and  German  scientists,  aided  by  many 
curious  scientific  appliances,  that  we 
are  introduced  to  the  wonderful  order 
and  arrangements  of  geological  his- 
tory. We  can  now  trace  with  almost 
unquestioned  accuracy  the  different 
stages  of  the  earth's  development.  In- 
deed, the  geology  of  the  stars  is  also, 


16  The  Bible  and  the 

at  present,  a  matter  of  study  and  of 
contemplation. 

The  same  thought,  too,  may  be  ap- 
plied to  the  facts  of  Providence.  The 
June  morning  brimful  of  gladness,  and 
the  dark  December  night  when  ships 
go  down  at  sea ;  nature,  as  she  stands 
with  one  hand  full  of  that  which  gives 
vigor  and  health,  with  the  other  full  of 
that  which  paralyzes  and  agonizes  be- 
yond description,  —  are  facts  that  cannot 
be  harmonized  at  short  notice.  The 
eye  must  be  skilled,  and  the  heart  rev- 
erent, in  order  to  discover,  in  such  a 
system  of  things,  harmony  and  unity. 

Thus,  also,  when  our  knowledge  of 
the  Bible  is  limited,  and  the  methods 
of  our  interpretation  are  imperfect,  con- 
tradictions may  be  found.    One  chapter 


Nineteenth  Century.  17 

and  verse  may  be  in  conflict  with  an- 
other, and  much  may  be  found  that  is 
in  conflict  with  the  various  departments 
of  natural  science.  But  when  biblical 
scholars  explore  and  ponder,  when 
science  and  the  Holy  Spirit  give  their 
aid,  then  an  internal  harmony  is  dis- 
covered; and  the  remarkable  agreement 
between  the  different  parts  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  between  the  truths  therein 
revealed  and  those  of  nature,  often 
dawns  upon  the  mind  in  delightful  and 
silent    majesty.      And    may 

''        "^  "^     A  hint  that 

we  not  well  ask  how  these  the  Author  of 

nature  is  the 
thmgS     could     be     otherwise,    Author  of  the 

if,  as  orthodoxy  claims,  the 

Bible  is  one  book,  and  if  the  Author 

of  nature   is  also   the  Author  of  the 

Bible? 


18  The  Bible  and  the 

It  is  a  well-known  psychological  fact, 
that  every  author  puts  his  personal 
characteristics  into  each  of  his  publica- 
tions. Titian  paints  like  no  other  artist. 
Beethoven  composes  like  no  other  mu- 
sician. Charles  Lamb  writes  like  no 
other  author.  Whatever  is  done  by 
any  person  carries  with  it  this  "indi- 
vidual aroma."  And  it  is  likewise  a 
divine  individual  aroma,  found  in  na- 
ture and  the  Bible,  that  bespeaks  for 
them  a  common  authorship.  Indeed, 
were  the  scientific  facts  of  the  Bible 
nicely  classified,  as  in  the  works  of  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  or  Professor  Agassiz,  we 
should  have  to  confess  that  in  that  fact 
there  is  a  stronger  reason  than  any  yet 
presented,  for  supposing  that  the  Bible 
is  of  human  origin.     And,  besides,  were 


Nineteenth  Century.  19 

there  a  studied  arrangement  and  scho- 
lastic classification  in  the  Bible,  we 
should  sadly  miss  that  naturalness 
which  makes  it  the  charming  book  it  is. 
It  would  be  no  longer  as  a  Colorado 
park,  but  as  a  cabinet  of  scientific 
specimens. 

At  this  point  some  one  asks  if  there 
are   not   certain  positive  an- 

Sttpposed 

tagonisms  between  the  Bible  antagonism 

between 

and  science,  —  not  mere  dif-  science  and 

p  .       T    , .  Til        the  Bible. 

lerences  m  diction  and  style, 
but  differences  in  matters  of  fact. 

Men  at  various  times,  beginning  as 
early  as  the  days  of  Celsus,  have  so  as- 
serted. But  those  objectors  may  have 
been  in  too  great  haste,  over-pugna- 
cious, or  not  well  informed.  Their  at- 
tacks  may   have   been    urged   against 


20  The  Bible  and  the 

some  supposed  teaching  of  the  Bible, 
and  not  against  any  thing  it  really 
teaches.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  at- 
tacks of  sceptics  more  than  once  have 
been  urged  against  incorrect  statements 
of  theologians  and  inaccuracies  of  trans- 
lators, "while  the  real  utterances  of  the 
Bible  have  remained  unassailed.  A 
single  instance  will  be  sufficient  to 
illustrate  this  point. 

At  the  time  our  English  Bible  was 
translated,  perhaps  out  of  deference 
Aniunstra.  to  the  prevailing  opinion  of 
"""!!'•;„     the  times  the  Hebrew  word 

snppofiea  an- 
tagonism,       rahiah    was    translated    into 

Greek  by  the  word  stereoma^  and  into 

Latin  by  the  word  firmamentum,  whose 

derivative  "firmament"  was  employed 

by  our  English  translators.     Objectors, 


Nineteenth  Century.  21 

finding  this  word  in  our  English  trans- 
lation, have  more  than  once  said  that 
Moses  meant  by  "  firmament  "  a  "  solid 
expanse,"  or  a  "firm  vault."  A  scep- 
tical American  writer  upon  "  Myths  " 
accordingly  puts  these  words  into  the 
moiith  of  Moses :  "  And  said  the  Gods, 
Let  there  be  a  hammered  metallic  plate 
in  the  midst  of  the  waters."  And  in- 
stantly young  and  pretentious  sceptics 
laughed  at  the  scientific  inaccuracies  of 
the  Bible.  Now,  what  are  the  facts  in 
the  case?  Moses  could  have  used  He- 
brew words  and  expressions  which  pri- 
marily and  invariably  mean  something 
solid  and  firm,  as,  for  instance,  such 
words  as  yathad  and  taraz  ;  but  he  did 
not.  The  word  rakiah^  which  was  used, 
primarily  means  to  spread  out,  like  the 


22  The  Bible  and  the 

Latin  expansus^  answering  to  our  Eng- 
lish word  "  expanse,"  and  is  thus  trans- 
lated by  nearly  all  our  best  Hebrew 
scholars.  Here,  therefore,  as  in  many 
other  instances,  is  a  sceptical  objection, 
raised,  not  against  what  the  Bible 
teaches,  but  against  what  it  cannot,  by 
any  fair  means,  be  made  to  teach. 

But,  again:  From  very  early  times  to 
the  present,  men  have  declared  that  the 
Actual  con.     teachings  of  the  Bible  —  not 

Hicts  between    •,  j      i.    j.    'j.  j.       i 

science  and       ^^^    SUppOScd,    but    its    actual 

the  Bible ;       teachings  —  and  the  teachings 

and  science  °  *-' 

in  error.  of  scisncB  are  in  conflict. 
And  we  are  willing  to  admit  that 
Bible-writers  and  scientific  men  more 
than  once  have  not  been  in  agreement. 
But  this  admission  does  not  carry  with 
it  the  confession  that  the  Bible  is  neces- 


Nineteenth  Century.  23 

sarily  wrong.  For,  if  science  is  wrong, 
and  the  Bible  right,  there  would  be  a 
conflict  all  the  same  as  if  the  reverse 
were  true.  Does  any  one  suppose  that 
science  has  always  been  free  from  error, 
or  always  in  agreement  with  itself? 

"  It   is   now   thirty-five   years,"  says 
Sharon   Turner,    "  since    my   attention 
was  turned  to  these   consid-  mugtrated 
erations.      It   was   then   the  »»y »'« state- 

mentsof  emi- 

fashion  of  science,  and  of  a  nentmen. 
large  part  of  the  educated  and  inquisi- 
tive world,  to  rush  into  a  disbelief  of  all 
written  revelation  ;  and  several  geologi- 
cal speculations  were  directed  against 
the  Bible.  But  I  have  lived  to  see  the 
most  hostile  of  these  destroyed."  At 
the  date  here  referred  to,  there  were 

conflicts  between  the  teachings  of  sci- 
S 


24  The  Bible  and  the 

ence  and  those  of  the  Bible ;  that  is, 
between  the  errors  of  science  and  the 
truths  of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  can 
hardly  be  condemned  for  not  harmo- 
nizing with  error,  though  the  error  is 
in  strictest  scientific  garb,  and  sup- 
ported by  able  scientific  authorities. 

Says  the  late  Professor  Lyell,  a  man 
justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  noted 
geologists  of  the  world,  "In  the  year 
1806,  the  French  Institute  enumerated 
no  less  than  eighty  geological  theories 
which  were  hostile  to  the  Scriptures; 
but  not  one  of  those  theories  is  held 
to-day."  That  those  French  sceptics 
in  the  year  1806  saw  discrepancies  be- 
tween Bible-teachings  and  their  own 
opinions,  need  not  surprise  us,  their 
opinions  having  been  wholly  exploded. 


Nineteenth  Century.  25 

It  may  also  be  said  of  some  of  the 
scientific  opinions  of  our  own  day,  that 
they  are  not  established.  Says  Pro- 
fessor Tyndall,  "  The  views  of  Lucre- 
tius and  Bruno,  of  Darwin  and  Spencer, 
may  be  wrong.  I  concede  this  possi- 
bility, deeming  it,  indeed,  certain  that 
their  views  will  undergo  modification." 
We  must  not,  therefore,  decide  matters 
hastily.  We  must  be  sure  at  least  of 
two  things,  before  pronouncing  against 
the  correctness  of  biblical  statement; 
namely,  correctness  of  interpretation, 
and  the  firm  establishment  of  scientific 
fact.  Had  this  rule  governed  sceptical 
thought  and  expression  during  the  last 
half-century,  much  that  has  been  said 
against  the  Bible  would  not  have  been 
spoken. 


26  The  Bible  and  the 

The  next  and  last  preliminary 
thought  to  which  we  ask  attention 
An  impor.  pi'operly  belongs  to  the  field 
t»iit  rnie.  q£  interpretation,  and  may  be 
expressed  by  this  rule :  One  should  \ 
carefully  distinguish  what  the  Scrip- 1 
ture  saith,  from  what  is  said  in  they 
Scriptures.  For  instance,  the  friends 
of  Job,  in  their  conversations  with  the 
much-afflicted  man,  uttered  many  false 
sentiments.  Those  sentiments  are  re- 
corded in  the  Bible.  But  the  Bible 
not  does  thereby  vouch  for  their  cor- 
rectness :  it  only  vouches  for  the  fact 
that  they  were  spoken  by  those  friends, 
and,  for  wise  reasons,  were  compiled 
in  the  inspired  volume.  Thus,  too,  the 
ancient  maxims  of  infidelity,  "  It  is  vain 
to  serve  God ''  (Mai.  iii.  14)  ;  "  Let  us 


Nineteenth  Century.  27 

eat  and  drink ;  for  to-morrow  we  die  " 
(1  Cor.  XV.  32),  are  found  in  the  Bible, 
but  are  none  the  less  false  and  perni- 
cious. They  are  not  what  the  Scrip- 
ture saith,  but  are  what  is  said  in  the 
Scriptures. 

Upon  this   same   ground,  caution  is 

(needed  lest  we  read  into  the  records  of 
the  Bible  what  does  not  prop-  cantion 
Wrly  belong  there.  For  in-  "*'*''•'•'• 
stance,  the  words  of  David,  "I  have 
been  young,  and  now  am  old;  yet  have 
I  not  seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor 
his  seed  begging  bread,"  are  often  read 
as  if  they  were  a  promise  that  the  seed 
of  the  righteous  shall  never  be  obliged 
to  beg  bread.  But  these  words,  upon 
a  moment's  thought,  will  be  found  to 
promise  nothing :  they  simply  state  what 


23  The  Bible  and  the 

David  had  not  chanced  to  see,  and  what 
doubtless  harmonizes  with  the  ordinary 
observation  of  humanity;  still,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  other  men  have  seen 
good  people,  and  the  children  of  good 
people,  left  to  beg  for  their  bread. 

This  thought  will  bear  still  closer 
inspection.  There  are  found  recorded 
A  fuller  in  the  Bible,  false  sentiments 
oilJui?"""  expressed  by  devils  (Gen.  iii. 
contenss.  4,  5)  ;  also  by  wicked  men 
(2  Kings  xviii.  17-37 ;  Mark  xiv.  58) ; 
and  even  by  good  men  (the  friends  of 
Job  furnished  many  illustrations,  and 
others  can  be  found  in  the  Book  of 
Ecclesiastes). 

There  are,  also,  found  recorded  in 
the  Bible,  true  sentiments  expressed  by 
good  men  (John  vi.  68 ;  Acts  v.  34-39) ; 


Nineteenth  Century.  29 

by  wicked  and  worldly  men  (Mark  ii. 
7 ;  John  vii.  46) ;  and  even  by  Satan 
and  demons  (Luke  iv.  33,  34).  Now, 
it  must  be  clear  upon  a  moment's 
thought,  that  though  these  sentiments 
were  inserted  in  the  Bible  by  inspired 
men,  they  are  not  necessarily  the  senti^ 
ments  of  inspired  men;  indeed,  they] 
are  in  some  instances  diametrically | 
opposed  to  the  sentiments  of  inspired 
men.  They  are  a  part  of  the  inspired 
volume ;  but  the  reader  is  left,  in  all 
such  cases,  to  judge  of  their  truthful- 
ness or  falseness  upon  the  same  grounds 
as  are  employed  in  testing  words  and 
statements  found  in  any  other  litera- 
ture. 

There  will  be  found,  for  illustration, 
in  the  writings  of  Professors   Huxley 


30  The  Bible  and  the 

and  Tyndall,  and,  indeed,  in  all  his- 
tories of  science  and  philosophy,  the 
The  same  recorded  opinions  of  distin- 
Bibie  inter-     guishcd  men  ;  but  those  opinl 

pretation  as      •  ^^   ^     VOUChcd   for\ 

governs  the  J  \ 

interpreta.      jjy  thosc  Scientists  who  havey 

tion  of  other        "^ 

literatnre.  merely  reported  them.  That 
they  are  thus  recorded,  is  not  their 
voucher ;  that  is,  these  modern  writers 
are  not  held  responsible  for  those  re- 
The  con-         cordcd    and    false    opinions,  / 

section  is 

decisive.  unlcss  the  Connection  Avar- 
rants  it,  or  unless  there  is  explicit  in- 
dorsement of  them.  Thus  also  with 
many  of  the  records  of  the  Bible. 

But,  on  the  otlier  hand,  when  we  read 
the  recorded  words  of  the  different  per- 
sonations of  the  Deity,  those  of  the 
Father   (Luke   iii.   22),   those    of   the' 


Nineteenth  Century.  SI 

Son  (Matt,  v.-vii.),  and  those  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  (Acts  xxi.  11);  or  when 
we  investigate  the  recorded  Absolute 
words  of  inspired  persons  in  *''"*''• 
their  inspired  moments  (Acts  ii.  4), 
—  then,  if  the  Bible  is  what  evangeli- 
cal Christians  claim  that  it  is,  we  are 
dealing  with  absolute  truth.  The 
heavens  and  the  earth,  according  to 
the  Bible  and  the  Church,  may  pass 
away ;  but  these  divine  words  shall 
not  pass  away. 

Having  in  these  introductory  remarks 
sufficiently  guarded  the  discussion,  we 
are   now  prepared    to   bring 

^       ^  ^    The  Bible  and 

together  the  teachings  of  the  other  ancient 

literature 

Bible,    and    those    of    other  brought 

1 .  11        together. 

ancient  literature,  under  the 

light  of  modern  science  and  philosophy, 


32  Tlie  Bible  and  the 

in  order  to  test  their  correctness  and 
their  comparative  merits. 

The  field  to  be  explored  is  a  broad 
one,  and  our  explorations  must  of  ne- 
cessity be  rapidly  made ;  but  the  haste, 
we  trust,  will  not  prevent  the  utmost 
fairness. 


As  we  are  all  familiar  with  the  sick- 
Theartof  rooui,  medical  science  may 
the  Bible.  be  allowed  to  lead  in  fur- 
nishing facts  and  illustrations  for  our 
subject. 

We  have  some  account  of  medical 
science  during  the  so-called  mystical 
Prom  period,   extending   from   the 

1184  B.C.  .  * 

to600B.c.      Trojan  War,   1184   B.C.,   to 
the  dissolution  of  the  Pythagorean  So< 


Nineteenth  Century.  33 

ciety,  500  B.C.  This  period,  too,  wit- 
nessed the  writing  of  quite  a  large 
portion  of  the  Old  Testament;  not  in- 
cluding, however,  the  books  of  Moses, 
which  were  of  earlier  date.  There  is 
not  time  in  this  brief  treatise  to  enu- 
merate the  vagaries  and  errors  in  physi- 
ology and  medicine,  found  extending 
through  those  ages;  the  opinions  held 
are  freely  confessed  by  modern  medical 
authorities  to  be  for  the  greater  part 
false,  crude,  and  senseless. 

The  subsequent  period,  extending 
from  500  B.C.  to  320  B.C.,  known  as 
the  philosophic  era  in  medi-  From 

600  B.C. 

cine,  has  an  array  of  brilliant  to320B.c. 
names.    Indeed,  nearly  all  the  scientists 
and  literary  men  of  that  period  had  more 
or  less  to  say  as  to  physiology,  anatomy, 


34  The  Bible  and  the 

and  the  treatment  of  diseases.  Such 
names  as  Pythagoras,  Hippocrates,  Pla- 
to, and  Aristotle  are  familiar.  Some  of 
their  opinions  are  found  to  be  correct, 
but  for  the  larger  part  they  are  as  un- 
scientific as  those  of  the  preceding  primi- 
tive and  mystic  periods.  In  a  word,  there 
has  been  a  well-nigh  entire  revolution 
of  those  early  opinions,  in  the  light  of 
recent  medical  science.  / 

But  more  than  this :  even  within  the 
memory  of  persons  now  living,  medi- 
Hedicai  cal   practice    has   undergone 

practice  in 

recent  times,  radical  changcs.  Fifty  years 
ago,  and  even  later,  the  physician  (we 
speak  extravagantly)  was  required  first 
to  bleed  his  patient  to  death  ;  and,  if  he 
could  not  succeed  in  this,  then  seem- 
ingly he  would  try  to  drug  him  to  death. 


Nijieteenth  Century.  35 

But  now  the  lancet  is  rarely  employed, 
while  milk,  iced  water,  gentle  nursing, 
and  harmless  diversions  take  the  place 
of  much  of  the  contents  of  the  drug- 
shop.  The  modern  theories  are,  that 
nature  must  restore  the  sick  man ;  that 
medical  practice  is  meanwhile  to  busy 
itself  with  removing  such  obstacles  as 
are  in  nature's  way,  or,  at  most,  is  to 
render  some  aid  to  nature  in  her  work 
of  restoration ;  and  that  the  future,  or 
at  least  the  highest,  mission  of  the  med- 
ical profession,  will  be  to  prevent  sick- 
ness by  guarding  against  its  causes.  / 
Turning  our  attention  to  the  Bible, 
we  take  the  position,  that,  though  it 
was  not  designed  to  teach  the  science 
of  medicine,  still,  whenever  by  hint, 
explicit    statement,    or    commandment 


86  The  Bihle  and  the 

there  is  found  in  it  any  thing  relating 
to  medicine,  disease,  or  sanitary  regula- 
The Bible,  tions,  there  must  be  no  error; 
"nstlTotbe  ^^^^*  ^^'  provided  the  Bible 
in  error.  jjj  ^j^  exceptional  sense  is 
God's  book.  Now,  what  are  the  facts 
in  this  case  ?  They  are  these  :  Though 
the  Bible  often  speaks  of  disease  and 
remedy,  yet  the  illusions,  deceptions, 
and  gross  errors  of  anatomy,  physiology, 
and  pathology,  as  formerly  taught,  no- 
where appear  upon  its  pages.  This,  it 
must  be  acknowledged,  is  at  least  sin- 
Tiie Bible        gular.     But  more  than  this: 

found  not  to 

be  in  error,  the  various  hiuts  and  direc- 
tions of  the  Bible,  its  sanitary  regula- 
tions, the  isolation  of  the  sick,  the 
washing,  the  sprinkling,  the  external 
applications,  and  the  various  moral  and 


Nineteenth  Century.  37 

religious  injunctions  in  their  bearing 
upon  health,  and  the  treatment  of 
sicknesses,  are  confessed  to  be  in  har- 
mony with  what  is  most  recent  and 
approved. 

To  be  sure,  the  average  old-school 
physician  of  a  century  ago  would  have 
blandly  smiled  at  our  simplicity,  had  it 
been  suggested  to  him  that  his  methods 
would  be  improved  by  following  Bible 
hints.  "What  did  Moses  know  about 
medical  science  ?  "  would  have  been  his 
reply.  But  Moses,  judged  by  recent 
standards,  seems  to  have  known  much, 
or  at  least  to  have  written  well.  A  few 
illustrations  are  in  point,  certain 
"  The  life  [sustenance]  of  JJ^Xiogicai 
the  flesh  is  in  the  blood"  "^eJ'tio-s. 
(Lev.  xvii.  11,  14 ;  comp.  Gen.  ix.  4), 


38  '  The  Bible  and  the 

are  the  words  of  Moses;  but  they  are 
also  the  words  of  modern  medical  sci- 
ence. And  if  all  that  is  implied  in  this 
fact  had  been  felt,  and  acted  upon,  there 
would  have  been  less  blood-letting  by 
the  medical  profession  during  the  last 
three  thousand  years.  The  effort  now 
in  the  ordinary  run  of  disease,  as  every- 
body knows,  is  to  keep  up  both  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  the  blood. 

"  Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of 
life  "  (Prov.  iv.  23),  is  from  the  Book 
of  Proverbs,  and,  taken  in  connection 
with  Lev.  xvii.  11,  14,  affords  at  least 
a  hint  of  the  fact  discovered  by  Har- 
vey in  1616,  that  the  blood  circulates 
through  the  human  system,  proceeding 
from  the  heart,  and  propelled  by  its 
jwuscular  energy. 


Nineteenth  Century.  89 

So,  too,  the  artificial  production  of 
sleep  during  surgical  operations  is 
thought  to  be  a  modern  discovery ;  but 
it  was  long  ago  hinted  at  in  the  Book 
of  Genesis :  "And  the  Lord  God  caused 
a  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon  Adam,  and 
he  slept;  and  he  took  one  of  his  ribs, 
and  closed  up  the  flesh  instead  there- 
of" (Gen.  ii.  21).  Here  was  a  sug- 
gestion which,  had  it  been  followed, 
might  have  hastened  what  has  been  a 
very  serviceable  though  tardy  scientific 
discovery. 

The  medical  profession  now  an- 
nounces these  directions  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  health :  "  Be  free  from 
anxiety  ;  be  occupied ;  be  temperate." 
These  injunctions,  however,  are  but 
an  echo  of  "  Diligent  in  business," 
4 


40  The  Bible  and  the 

"  Take  no  [anxious]  thought  for  the  mor- 
row,"  and  be  "  temperate  in  all  things-'* 
By  following  these  Bible  requirements, 
much,  perhaps  half,  of  the  sickness  of 
the  world  would  be  prevented. 

Then,  too,  the  law  which  requires  rest 
one  day  in  seven  from  ordinary  pur- 
suits is  now  admitted  to  be  founded  in 
a  physiological  necessity.  And  in  order 
to  save  our  fields  from  exhaustion,  and 
our  bodies  from  prostration,  it  may  be- 
come necessary  to  re-enact,  or  at  least 
re-observe,  the  sabbatical  year  of  the 
Mosaic  code  ;  that  is,  if  our  hard- 
worked  professional  and  business  men 
would  one  year  in  seven  take  relief 
from  mental  strain,  nervous  prostra- 
tion among  them  would  not  much 
longer  be  known. 


Nineteenth  Century.  41 

There  are  other  matters  enjoined  in 
the  ceremonial  law,  hardly  suitable, 
perhaps,  to  be  presented  in  a  popular 
treatise,  which  nevertheless  are  coming 
to  be  acknowledged  as  of  great  impor- 
tance. To  the  sanitary  excellence  of 
those  regulations,  the  general  health  of 
the  Jewish  race  is  recognized  as  a  stand- 
ing   witness.      Dr.    Richard-  Testimony 

of  eminent 

son,  in  his  work  entitled  physicians. 
"  Diseases  of  Modern  Life,"  after  speak- 
ing of  the  fact  that  the  Jews,  though 
persecuted  and  oppressed  by  every  form 
of  tyranny,  enduring  what  no  other  peo- 
ple have  been  able  to  endure,  are  still 
potent  and  on  the  increase,  uses  this  lan- 
guage: "From  some  cause  or  causes, 
the  Jewish  race  presents  an  endurance 
against  disease  that  does  not  belong  to 


42  The  Bible  and  the 

other  portions  of  the  civilized  commu- 
nities amongst  which  its  members 
dwell."  We  presume  no  reader  need 
be  told  that  this  singular  condition  of 
the  Jewish  race  is  attributed  by  medi- 
cal authorities  to  its  obedience  to  those 
health  and  religious  regulations  enjoined 
in  the  Bible. 

Of  more  general  application  are  the 
words  of  two  other  writers,  whose  state- 
ments must  carry  with  them  great 
weight,  especially  to  those  who  are 
inclined  to  disregard  what  clergymen 
might  say  upon  these  subjects. 

Renouard,  in  his  "  History  of  Medi- 
cine," translated  by  Dr.  Comegys, 
makes  these  statements :  "  The  writings 
of  Moses  constitute  a  precious  monu- 
ment in   the   history  of  medicine,  for 


Nineteenth  Century.  43 

they  embrace  hygienic  rules  of  the 
highest  sagacity.  ...  In  reading,  for 
instance,  those  precepts  designed  to 
regulate  the  relation  of  a  man  to  his 
wife,  one  cannot  repress  a  sentiment  of 
admiration  for  the  wisdom  and  foresight 
which  made  such  salutary  regulations  a 
religious  duty.  .  .  .  Apart  from  the  re- 
ligious ceremonies  cojinected  with  them, 
might  it  not  be  said  that  they  are  ex- 
tracts from  a  modern  work  on  hygien- 
ics ?  "  Mark  those  words,  extracts  from 
a  modern  work  on  hygienics.  "But," 
continues  Dr.  Renouard,  "what  more 
than  this  excites  the  astonishment  of 
physicians,  is  the  tableaux  that  Moses 
has  made  of  the  white  leprosy,  and  the 
regulations  he  established  to  prevent 
its  propagation." 


44  The  Bible  and  the 

These  certainly  are  highly  compli- 
mentary words  as  to  the  correctness  of 
Bible  precept  and  regulation,  especially 
as  they  were  spoken,  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  defending  the  Bible,  but  from  a 
point  of  view  purely  scientific. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  re- 
marked, that  leprosy,  which  no  longer 
ago  than  1700  prevailed  in  England  to 
such  an  extent  that  leper-houses,  num- 
bering a  hundred  or  more,  existed,  has 
now  disappeared.  "  It  was  stamped 
out  of  England,"  says  medical  history, 
"through  a  system  of  isolation."  But 
that  was  the  biblical  method  of  dealing 
with  leprosy  three  or  four  thousand 
years  ago. 

The  late  Dr.  Edward  Clarke  speaks 
thus  in  his  work  on  "  Sex  in   Educar 


Nineteenth  Century.  45 

tion  :  "  "  The  instructors,  the  houses 
and  schools  of  our  country's  daughters, 
would  profit  by  reading  the  old  Leviti- 
cal  law.  The  race  has  not  yet  out- 
grown the  physiology  of  Moses." 
Surely  a  few  statements  like  these  will 
forever  after  relieve  clergymen  from 
the  necessity  of  defending  the  physio- 
logical code  of  Moses. 

There  are  other  correlated  matters 
that  need  detain  us  but  a  moment. 
The  anatomist,  for  instance,  Matters 
dissects  every  part  of  the  rtoUdit, 
physical  man ;  the  biain-cells  »«•««»««• 
are  explored,  the  nerve-centres  located, 
the  nice  dependences  and  adjustments 
of  part  to  part  are  traced :  and  when 
ihe  work  is  done,  the  most  skilful  dis- 
secter  can  find  no  language  that  more 


46  The  Bible  and  the 

fittingly  expresses  his  surprise  and  emo- 
tion than  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  I 
am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made." 

The  anatomical  chemist,  with  his 
many  instruments  and  modern  appli- 
ances, carefully  analyzes  the  human 
body,  but  discovers  no  ingredient  in  its 
material  make-up  which  is  not  found/ 
in  the  dust  beneath  his  feet.  In  the 
Mosaic  revelation  we  read:  "And  the 
Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nos- 
trils the  breath  of  life ;  and  man  became 
a  living  soul"  (Gen.  ii.  7). 

The  geologist  takes  the  body  of  man 
where  the  physiologist  finds  it,  traces 
its  lineage  back  in  harmony  with  the 
great  laws  of  historic  continuity  to  the 
soil,  and  then   to   the   solid  geological 


Nineteenth  Century.  47 

formations  now  known  as  the  lower  or 
the  foundation  strata  of  the  earth. 
When  his  investigations  are  completed, 
he  says,  "There  is  beyond  question, 
and  under  the  eye  of  a  divine  intelli- 
gence, an  unbroken  historic  connection 
between  this  physical  body  of  man,  and 
the  granite  foundations  of  the  earth 
upon  which  he  walks." 

The  latest  scientific  statements  of  this 
fact  are  these :  "  From  the  lower  strata 
of  the  earth  have  come  the  molecular 
constituents"  of  the  human  body ;  and 
God,  in  building  up  our  organic  nature, 
has  guided  the  contents  of  the  soil 
through  its  many  and  intricate  changes 
to  its  final  and  most  sublime  destina- 
tion in  the  human  body.  .  .  .  We  have, 
in  all  this,  more  than  the  idea  of  Intel- 


48  The  Bible  and  the 

ligent  cause ;  we  have  an  ever-acting 
cause  :  hence  evolution,  instead  of 
pushing  far  back  the  transcendental 
ground  of  being,  reveals  that  ground  as 
a  present  source  of  phenomena  that 
surround  us  at  every  stage  of  our 
progress.  Evolution  could  not  go  on 
without  the  constant  action  of  this 
ever-present  cause.  Evolution,  then,  is 
simply  a  method  by  which  the  supreme 
cause  acts.  .  .  .  Creation  by  law,  evo- 
lution by  law,  development  by  law,  or, 
as  including  all  these  kindred  ideas, 
the  reign  of  law,  is  nothing  but  the 
reign  of  creative  force,  directed  by 
creative  knowledge,  worked  under  tlie 
control  of  creative  power,  and  in  fulfil- 
ment of  creative  purpose." 

Turning  to   a  Psalm    of  David,  we 


Nineteenth  Century.  49 

read  some  of  these  same  truths  in  their 
beautiful  poetieo-religious  dress  :  — 

"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit  ?  or 
whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ? 

*'  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there  :  if 
I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there. 

"  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell 
in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea  ; 

"Even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy 
right  hand  shall  hold  me. 

"  If  I  say,  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me  ; 
even  the  night  shall  be  light  about  me. 

"  Yea,  the  darkness  hideth  not  from  thee  ;  but 
the  night  shineth  as  the  day  :  the  darkness  and 
the  light  are  both  alike  to  thee. 

"  For  thou  hast  possessed  my  reins  :  thou  hast 
covered  me  in  my  mother's  won)b. 

"  I  will  praise  thee  ;  for  I  am  fearfully  and 
wonderfully  made  :  marvellous  are  thy  works  ; 
and  that  my  soul  knoweth  right  well.    • 

"  My  substance  was  not  hid  from  thee,  when  I 
was  made  in  secret,  and  curiously  wrought  in  the 
lowest  parts  of  the  earth.     [Moll,  Delitzsch,  and 


60  The  Bible  and  the 

Hitzig  speak  of  this  language  as  having  reference 
to  man's  origin  from  the  dust.] 

"  Thine  eyes  did  see  my  substance,  yet  being 
imperfect ;  and  in  thy  book  all  my  members  were 
written,  which  in  continuance  were  fashioned, 
when  as  yet  there  was  none  of  them. 

"  How  precious  also  are  thy  thoughts  unto  me, 
O  God  !  how  great  is  the  sum  of  them  ! "  (Ps. 
cxxxix.  7-17.) 

When  David  wrote  those  words, 
there  was  not  a  man  on  earth  who 
understood  the  chemistry  of  life  as  it 
is  now  understood ;  and  yet  the  ex- 
pressions are  faultless  as  to  both  their 
great  beauty  and  accuracy. 

Now,  does  any  intelligent  man  con- 
tinue to  insist  that  the  Bible  in  these 
matters  relating  to  medical  and  physio- 
logical science  is  an  antiquated  book  ? 
But  why  was  it   not   long   since   anti- 


Nineteenth  Century.  51 

quated  if  written  as  other  ancient  books 
were  written,  by  men  liable  to  make 
mistakes ;  by  men,  as  we  are  An  important 
told,  who  lived  in  a  barbarous  '»"*'"°"- 
age ;  by  men  without  supernatural  rev- 
elations, and  with  no  special  authority  ? 
AV^hy  is  it  that  these  Sacred  Scriptures 
Jare  so  much  superior  to  all  else  of  an- 
Icient  date?  and  how  does  it  happen 
f  that  they  have  anticipated  in  pathology 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  discoveries 
of  modern  times,  if  they  are  but  a  book 
among  other  books?  Have  we  not  a 
right  to  ask  for  an  intelligent  answer  ? 


The  transition  from  the  human  body 
to  the  human  mind  is  a  nat-  The  hnman 

mind  and  the 

ural  one,  and  brmgs  us  to  our  Bible, 
next  field  of  inquiry,  where  we  are  con- 


52  The  Bible  and  the 

fronted  with  this  question :  How  com- 
pare the  teachings  of  the  Bible  with  an- 
cient and  with  modern  mental  science? 
That  Bible-writers  do  not  teach  in 
Opiniongof  hamiony  with  many  ancient 
L*to  the^"**  philosophers,  there  is  no  qnes- 
mind.  tion.     For  instance,  Democ- 

ritus,  who  flourished  at  the  time  when 
the  last  of  the  prophets  were  composing 
their  writings,  tells  us  that  the  substance 
of  the  soul,  or  the  thinking  part  of  man, 
is  fire.  Pythagoras  held  essentially  the 
same  opinion,  adding  that  it  is  a  "  self 
moving  unit "  of  fire.  Diogenes  the 
Cretan  advocated  the  theory  that  the 
earth's  atmosphere  is  intelligent,  and 
that  a  section  of  this  intelligent  atmos' 
phere  becomes  at  birth  the  intellectual 
part  of  man.     The   following  conflict- 


Nineteenth  Century.  53 

ing  views  were  likewise  held  by  the 
ancient  philosophical  world :  that  the 
thinking  part  of  a  man  emanates  from 
the  stars  ;  that  the  mind  is  the  blood ; 
that  it  is  matter;  that  it  is  the  deity. 
There  were  those  who  located  the  intel- 
lect in  the  blood ;  others,  in  the  heart ; 
others,  in  the  abdomen ;  others,  in  the 
brain ;  and  otliers,  between  the  eyes. 

Now,  is  it  replied  that  these  philoso- 
phers were  attempting,  as  best  they 
could,  an  explanation  of  very  difficult 
problems,  and  that  they  should  not  be 
too  severely  criticised  or  condemned? 
We  have  not  criticised  them.  We 
have  no  disposition  to  criticise  them. 
They  did  as  well  as  could  be  expected. 
They  frequently  adopted  these  views  as 
working  hypotheses,  which  they  had  an 


64  Tlie  Bible  and  the 

unquestioned  right  to  do.    But  a  matter 

of  fair  inquiry  is  this :  What 

guarded  the     was  it  that  guarded  the  Bible- 

Bible-wrlters 

•gainst  false  Writers  in  their  statements 
opiii  ons  against  conflicting  with  one 
another,  and  against  teaching  what 
are  now  regarded  erroneous  views  ? 
Though  they  breathed  an  atmosphere 
loaded  with  crude  and  false  specula- 
tions, still  they  are  free  from  them. 

It  is  too  late  in  the  day  to  reply  that 
the  Jews  were  not  speculative  philoso- 
Not  their  sup.  P^^^s  like  the  Greeks,  and, 
posed  non.      therefore,  these  matters  by 

philosophical  '  •^ 

character.  them  wcre  not  touched  upon. 
They  were  touched  upon ;  and  the 
Jews  had  a  philosophical  as  well  as 
theological  bent.  The  Book  of  Genesis 
bespeaks  for  its  author  a  philosopher, 


Nineteenth  Century.  65 

and  one   of  the   highest  order.     Solo- 
mon, too,  was  a  philosopher ;  and  there 
were  few  in  his  day  that  equalled  or  at 
least  excelled  him.     Philo  was  a  Jew, 
yet  a  philosopher,  and  especially  well 
drilled  in  the  Platonic  school  of  philoso- 
phy.    The  writings  of  Paul  show  that 
he  had  the  philosophical  tendency,  and 
that  he  might  have  stood  high  in  any  of 
the  ancient  schools  of  philosophy.     In  I 
a  word,  the  supposed  lack  of  the  philo-  \ 
sophical  inclination  or  trend  can  never 
account  for  the  absence  from  the  Bible  i 
of    the     self-contradictory    and    false 
teachings  of  ancient  philosophers  as  to  '■ 
the  relations  and  operations  of  the  hu- ' 
man    mind.    Some   other  explanation, 
as  every  thoughtful  person  must  admit, 
is  needed  to  account  for  the  fact  that 

5 


56  The  Bible  and  the 

Moses  did  not  teach  that  the  soul  is  a 
section  of  the  atmosphere ;  that  David 
did  not  sing  of  the  emanation  of  the 
soul  from  the  stars ;  that  Solomon  did 
not  locate  the  soul  in  the  abdomen,  and 
that  Paul  did  not  place  it  between  the 
e^'es. 

More  than  this:  the  Bible-writers  not 
only  escaped  the  errors  of  their  contem- 
correctness  poraries,  but  their  psychol- 
"tafemlntsin  ^gJ'  i"  ^he  light  of  modcm 
the  light  of     thought,  is   conceded   to   be 

modem  o      ' 

thought.  correct.  Magnus  Frederick 
Roos,  the  great  pioneer  in  Bible  psy- 
chology, may  be  taken  as  a  representa- 
tive of  his  class  in  this  statement :  "  I 
take  it  for  my  guiding  rule,  that  every- , 
where  in  Scripture  there  reigns  an  accu»/ 
racy  and  validity  worthy  of  God." 


Nineteenth  Century.  57 

The  union  of  the  omnipotence  of 
Gou-  and  the  free  will  of  man ;  the 
nature  and  power  of  memory,  imagi- 
nation, reflection,  and  conscience  ;  the 
supremacy  of  man,  his  special  endow- 
ments, and,  we  may  add,  his  excep- 
tional creation,  as  stated  in  the  Bible, 
—  are  found  to  be  in  perfect  harmony, 
we  do  not  say  with  all  the  various  philo- 
sophical hypotheses  of  modern  times, 
but  with  all  well-established  data  of 
the  dominant  philosophical  and  scien- 
tific systems  of  modern  times. 

The  argument,  too,  derived  from  tlie 
benefit    of    the    Bible    upon 

The  moral 

the  mind  of  man,  is  a  special  argnment 

derived  from 
philosophical   topic   which    of    Bible  influ- 

itself   is   sufficient    to    f®rm 

an  entire  treatise.     No  one  denies,  and 


58  The  Bible  and  the 

no  one  can  deny,  that  the  precious 
truths  of  the  Bible  have  carried  into 
the  humble  cottage  of  the  peasant,  and 
into  the  homes  of  the  city,  a  refine- 
ment of  intellect  and  a  tenderness  of 
heart  which  otherwise  would  never 
have  existed  there ;  and  that  the  history 
of  America,  of  all  Europe,  indeed,  we 
may  say  of  the  whole  world,  shows 
that  national  purity  and  enlightenment 
are  always  in  proportion  to  biblical 
knowledge  and  practice  among  the  peo- 
ple. Few  if  any  thoughtful  persons 
will  question  the  statement  that  if  the 
Bible  is  philosophically  false  its  influ- 
ence could  not  have  been  followed  by 
such  beneficial  results,  nor  have  this 
quality  and  quantity  of  indorsement. 
In  order  to  avoid  a  multiplicity  of 


Nineteenth  Century.  59 

subjects,  we   may,  in   this  connection, 
speak  of  the  mental  methods  Mental 

*  methodg  of 

of  the  Bible.  As  every  thesibie. 
reader  is  aware,  Aristotle,  by  what  must 
be  regarded  as  a  powerful  system  of 
reasoning,  held  the  world  captive  for  a 
thousand  years.  Yet  to-day  his  method, 
and  other  methods  based  upon  it,  are 
superseded  by  what  is  known  as  the 
inductive  process  of  Sir  Francis  Bacon, 
which  is  the  bringing  together  of  sev- 
eral facts  belonging  to  a  class,  and  then 
drawing  from  them  an  inference  or  con- 
clusion. 

Now,  is  it  not  somewhat  remarkable, 
that  at  the  very  time  when  the  system 
of  reasoning  used  and  perfected  by 
Aristotle  held  sway  over  the  minds 
of    men,    th^    method    introduced    by 


60  The  Bible  and  the 

Bacon  was  almost  constantly  employed 
by  Bible  writers  ?  Even  before  Aristotle, 
Examples  of    we   find   in    the    concluding 

inductive 

reasoning.  chapters  of  Job  somc  of  the 
most  perfect  examples  possible  of  Baco- 
nian reasoning;  the  glory  and  majesty 
of  Jehovah  are  there  inferred  from  the 
various  works  of  creation,  by  the  same 
methods  now  adopted  by  all  distin- 
guished scientists  the  world  over. 

Paul,  too,  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  gives  the  key  to  the  inductive 
method  as  applied  to  both  the  visible 
and  invisible  dniverse  when  saying,  — 

"  For  the  invisible  things  of  liini  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  under- 
stood by  the  things  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal 
power  and  Godhead;  so  that  they  are  without 
excuse"  (Rom,  i.  20). 


Nineteenth  Century.  61 

Chancellor  Dawson,  in  reviewing  the 
school  of  thought  represented  by  John 
Stuart  Mill,  and  while  speaking  espe- 
cially of  Mill's  essay  on  Theism,  says, 
"  It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  coinci- 
dence, that  the  only  way  in  which  Paul 
said  that  the  heathen  could,  without 
revelation,  attain  to  the  knowledge  of 
God,  is  precisely  that  which  this  scepti- 
cal English  philosopher  singles  out  as 
the  only  argument  valid  to  his  mind." 

Our  Lord  also  frequently  employed 
this  method  of  reasoning.  Notably  was 
this  the  case  whenever  presenting  the 
claims  of  his  mission  and  authority. 
For  instance,  he  wrought  his  wonderful 
deeds  before  the  people,  and  then  said 
to  them.  The  works  that  I  do  bear 
witness  of  me     (John  v.  36).     It  is  as 


62  The  Bible  and  the 

if  he  had  said,  "  Look  at  these  works ; 
test  them :  then  draw  your  inferences." 
"  Believe  me  for  the  very  works'  sake  " 
(John  xiv.  11),  was,  too,  the  inductive 
appeal  ever  upon  his  lips.  How  ad- 
mirably this  is  illustrated,  when  the 
disciples  of  John  inquired, — 

"Art  thou  be  that  should  come?  or  look  we 
for  another  ?  "     (Luke  vii.  19.) 

We  read,  that  — 

"  In  that  same  hour  he  cured  many  of  their 
infirmities  and  plagues,  and  of  evil  spirits;  and 
unto  many  that  were  blind  he  gave  sight. 

"Then  Jesus  answering  said  imto  them,  Go 
your  way,  and  tell  John  what  things  ye  have  seen 
and  heard ;  how  that  the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk, 
the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead 
are  raised,  to  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached. 

"And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  b» 
offended  in  me."     (Luke  vii.  21-23.) 


Nineteenth  Century.  63 

We  must  pause  in  the  midst  of  the 
many  illustrations  that  present  them- 
selves. In  a  word,  the  Bible  abounds, 
almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other  meth- 
ods of  reasoning,  with  those  now  recog- 
nized as  the  most  valid  and  profound, 
though  opposed  to  the  methods  em- 
ployed throughout  the  civilized  world 
at  the  time  the  larger  part  of  the  Bible 

was     written.       The     method    Dependence 

ad<3pted    by    Cousin    in    his  "rnmerhod 
"  Course  of  Modern  Philoso-  "f  f  *''* 

Bible 

phy,"  by  Sir  William  Hamil-  method, 
ton  in  his  "  Metaphysics,"  by  Spencer  in 
his  "  First  Principles,"  by  John  Stuart 
Mill  in  his  various  philosophical  writ- 
ings, by  Darwin,  Huxley,  and  Tyndall 
in  their  treatises  upon  physical  science, 
is  the  Bible  method  made  ready  for  the 


64  The  Bible  and  the 

use  of  these  recent  writers  by  Bacon, 
and  made  ready  for  his  use  by  the 
prophets,  the  Master,  and  his  apostles. 
This  dependence  upon  the  Bible  can  be 
easily  shown.  Bacon's  estimate  of  the 
wonderful  book  is  suggestive :  "  There 
never  was  found,  in  any  age  of  the 
world,  either  religion  or  law  that  did  so 
highly  exalt  the  public  good  as  the 
Bible."  And  be  it  remembered  that 
Bacon  did  not  become  inductive  and 
practical  in  his  reasoning  until,  through 
his  admiration  and  study  of  the  Bible, 
his  mind  had  become  imbued  with  the 
inductive  and  practical  theology  of  the 
Bible. 

Is  there  nothing,  therefore,  in  all 
these  matters  to  excite  our  surprise? 
How  did  it  chance  that  the  Bible  in  its 


Nineteenth  Century.  65 

statements  of  psychological  facts,  and 
in  its  psychological  methods,  is  so  re- 
cent, and   so   different   from 

How  shall  the 

other  ancient    literature?  correctness 

of  Bible  pgjr* 

Can  any  peculiarity  of  the  choiogybe 
Jew  afford  explanation?  If 
so,  a  wonderful,  a  supernatural  being, 
is  the  Jew.  Such  a  supposition  is,  of 
course,  untenable.  If,  however,  it  is 
admitted  that  the  writers  and  compi- 
lers of  the  Bible  were  providentially  se- 
lected, and  were  providentially  guarded 
against  introducing  errors  into  the  com- 
position of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and 
were  providentially  helped  in  their  writ- 
ing, then  we  have  an  answer  to  a  multi- 
tude of  questions  that  seemingly,  upon 
any  other  supposition,  must  remain  un- 
answered if  not  unanswerable. 


66  The  Bible  and  the 

With  this  division  of  our  topic  we 
cannot  delay  longer,  but  we  pass  for  a 
„     „  few  moments  to  matters  prop- 

The  Bible  in  f     f 

Its  relation     erly  grouped  under  govern- 
to  govern- 
ment  and       mcut  and   civilization.      For 

clTilization.        .  ,.  i  •      ,  ^  i 

Since  these  subjects  are  based 
upon  general  principles  and  truths,  and 
are  consequently  included  in  the  field  of 
scientific  investigation,  they  fall  prop- 
erly within  the  limits  of  this  discussion. 
Since  no  small  amount  of  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Bible  is  manifestly  designed 
to  set  forth  the  rules  and  principles 
which  should  govern  the  conduct  of 
men  in  their  various  relations  with  one 
another,  it  follows,  that  if  it  is  what  it 
claims  to  be,  —  a  providential,  excep- 
tional, and  inspired  book,  —  then,  in  its 
precepts  relating  to  these  matters,  it 


Nineteenth  Century.  67 

must  not  only  be  superior  to  what  is 
generally  taught  in   ancient 
literature,    but    must    be    a  w  inspired 

a  court  of 

worthy  standard  and  a  court  ultimate 
of  ultimate  appeal  as  long  as  '^^**  * 
the  world  stands.     Is  it  such  a  court  of 
appeal  ? 

Let  us  first,  in  this  connection,  ex- 
amine the  teachings  of  the  Bible  as  to 
the  general  principles  of  le-  The  Bible 
gal  science  and  philosophy.  "^'*^' 
Of  the  world's  judgment  respecting  the 
two  tables  of  commandments,  there  is 
no  ground  for  question.  Perhaps  an 
intelligent  person  cannot  be  found  who 
will  dissent  from  this  statement,  that 
these  two  tables  recorded  in  the  writ- 
ings of  Moses  contain  in  a  general  form 
the  vital  principles  of  all  modern  legal 


68  The  Bible  and  the 

science,  judicial,  national,  and  interna- 
tional. Is  not  that  a  fact  upon  scien- 
tific grounds  worthy  of  careful  study  ? 
While  a  sceptical  lawyer  was  read- 
ing these  commandments,  and  while 
thinking  of  their  accuracy,  their  pro- 
fundity, and  their  marvellous  compre- 
hensiveness, he  was  led  to  reason  thus : 
"I  have  read  history.  The  Egyptians 
and  the  adjacent  nations  were  idolaters  ; 
so  were  the  Greeks  and  Romans:  and 
the  wisest  and  best  Greeks  or  Romans 
never  gave  a  code  like  this.  Where  did 
Moses  get  this  law,  which  surpasses  the 
wisdom  and  philosophy  of  the  most  en- 
lightened ages?  He  lived  at  a  period 
comparatively  barbarous;  but  he  has 
given  a  law  in  which  the  learning  and 
sagacity  of  all  subsequent  time  can  de- 


Nineteenth  Century.  69 

tect  no  flaw.  Where  did  he  get  it? 
He  could  not  have  soared  so  far  above 
his  age  as  to  have  devised  it  himself." 

It  was  through  this  sound  process  of 
reasoning,  that  the  lawyer  was  led  out 
of  his  infidelity  into  the  realms  of 
Christian  faith. 

And,  too,  is  it  not  a  forcible  corrobo- 
ration of  the  exalted  legal  philosophy 
of  the  Bible,  that  such  mas-  TheBibie 
ters  in  legal  lore  as  Black-  eLTnent  ' 
stone,      Somers,      Marshall,  i»wye"' 
Story,  and  Kent,  were  reverent  admirers 
of  its  sacred  pages?     But  would  they 
have  been  if  its  teachings  were  not  pro- 
found and  true  ? 

Perhaps,  however,  the  unbeliever 
points  to  the  Roman  law  as  a  grand 
monument  of  human  sagacity  and  wis 


70  The  Bible  and  the 

dom.  In  a  measure  it  is  such.  But  its 
obligation  to  Bible  thinking  and  com- 
Obiigationof  mandmeut,    no    scholar  will 

Roman  law 

to  the  Bible.  Venture  to  question.  In- 
deed, Roman  law,  which  lies  at  the 
basis  of  nearly  all  European  law,  never 
could  have  been  what  it  is  except  for 
the  influence  of  Christianity  upon  the 
Roman  nationality.  Dr.  A.  P.  Peabody, 
in  an  article  on  "  The  Influence  of 
Christianity  upon  Roman  Law,"  thus 
wisely  states  the  case :  — 

"  The  actual  reformers  of  the  Roman 
law  were,  all  of  them,  nominally  Chris- 
tian. Constantine  can  hardly  be  termed 
a  Christian  in  the  interior,  spiritual 
sense  of  the  word;  but  he  called  him- 
self one,  and  his  improved  legislation 
was  under  the  guidance,  and  I  might 


Nineteenth  Century. 


say  under  the  direction,  of  the  bishops 
whom  he  regarded  as  endowed  with 
divine  wisdom  and  authority.  Justin- x 
ian,  the  greatest  legislator  of  all  time^ 
was  a  zealous  Christian,  —  in  some  re- 
spects only  too  zealous,  for  he  was  an 
unrelenting  persecutor  of  heretics,  Jews, 
and  Pagans.  Of  the  series  of  Christian 
emperors,  there  was  hardly  one  whose 
decrees  did  not  bear  the  impress  of  his 
faith,  and  aid  in  vindicating  the  rights 
of  long-depressed  humanity."  • 

The  present  constitutional  law  of 
England,  too,  owes  vastly  more  to  the 
Bible  than  is  generally  sup-  Theconstitn- 
posed.     Every  student  of  le-  """f^'r*", 

^  •'  England,  and 

gal  science  and  history  knows  ^^^  ^*'»'«- 

that  the  laws  of  Alfred  and  of  Edward 

the  Confessor,  and  even  those  framed 
6 


72  The  Bible  and  the 

as  late  as  the  days  of  Coke,  continually 
cited  the  Scriptures  as  ultimate  author- 
ity. 

These  questions  are,  therefore,  perti- 
nent: Have  any  of  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  the  Roman  law,  and  of  the 
constitutional  law  of  Engljfnd,  been  out- 
grown ?  Are  they  likely  to  be  ?  And, 
therefore,  is  not  the  Bible  in  a  fair  way 
to  remain  a  court  of  ultimate  appeal  ? 

What  is  true  of  law  is  equally  true 
in  the  allied  fields  of  political  science 
The  Bible        and  civilization.     Bible  truth 

and  politiral 

science.  and  commandment,  as  already 

suggested,  have  been  the  great  regula- 
tive and  reformative  power  among  the 
nations.  No  period  or  country  has  been 
visited  by  them  without  receiving  both 
advancement  and  elevation.     No  nation 


Nineteenth  Century.  73 

has  received  tiiem  into  its  heart  without 
feeling  the  flush  of  health  in  its  cheek, 
and  the  vigor  of  life  throughout  the 
body  politic.  The  Bible  has  been  a 
standing  protestation  against  usurpa- 
tions and  intolerances  of  every  form, 
the  world  oyer,  and  history  through. 
Such  masters  in  political  science  as 
Grotius,  Selden,  Montesquieu,  Raleigh, 
Burke,  Pitt,  the  Adamses,  iheBiWe 
and  Webster  never   had    a  indorsed  »»y 

eminent 

thought  of  questioning,  in  statesmen, 
matters  of  political  life  and  legislation, 
the  correctness  of  Bible  statement. 
Passages  from  the  Scriptures  were 
quoted  by  these  men  as  though  they 
were  a  final  appeal,  —  a  decision  from 
the  highest,  the  supreme  court  of  the 
world. 


74  The  Bible  and  the 

An  African  prince  sent  an  ambassa- 
dor to  Queen  Victoria,  asking  the  secret 
of  England's  superiority  among  the  na- 
tions. The  Queen,  handing  the  ambas- 
sador a  copy  of  the  Bible,  said,  "  Go  tell 
Secret  of        your  priucc  that  this  is  the 

England's  ,,   .      , 

greatness.  secret  01  England  s  political 
greatness."  It  is  Bible  knowledge  and 
practice  which  makes  England  pre-emi- 
nent :  it  is  a  disregard  of  Bible  precept 
and  practice  which  has  brought  a  blush 
to  the  cheek  of  some  of  her  dearest 
^^  friends. 

Sept.  26,  1815,  the  three  great  mon- 
archs  of  the  world,  Alexander  of  Russia, 
Francis  of  Austria,  and  Frederic  Wil- 
liam of  Prussia,  ruling  seventy  millions 
of  people,  signed  and  published  in 
Paris,   amid  the   clashing    and   din   of 


Nineteenth  Century.  75 

war,  "  The  Holy  Alliance,"  one  of  the 
most  important  state  papers  of  modern 
times.  In  it,  these  rulers  » The  Holy 
solemnly  recognized  before  ^"*»'*««'" 
the  world  the  religion  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  as  the  only  true  basis  of  po- 
litical relations,  and  the  only  safe  legal 
directory  for  the  nations  of  the  earth: 
they  pledged  themselves  "to  act  on  the 
principles  of  the  gospel,  and  to  follow 
the  rules  of  justice,  charity,  and  peace." 

The  world  clearly  saw,  that  if  those 
professions  were  sincere,  and  if  they 
should  be  followed,  an  improvement  of 
inestimable  advantage  in  national  and 
international  diplomacy  and  law  would 
certainly  result. 

Our  own  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, in  which  we  have  an  honest  pride. 


76  The  Bible  and  the 

is  but  an  echo  of  the  majestic  chrono- 
logical table  which  concludes  thus : 
Declaration     "  Who  was  the  SOU  of  Adam, 

of  Independ- 
ence, who   was  the    son    of   God." 

When,  therefore,  our  government  dis- 
criminates against  any  people  seeking  a 
home  upon  these  shores,  it  makes  war 
against  itself,  and  antagonizes  laws 
more  potent  than  those  of  gravitation. 
Sooner  or  later  the  penalty  for  such 
inconsistency,  selfishness,  and  injustice 
must  be  paid. 

-  When  any  people  are  fit  for  self-rule, 
a  monarchy,  especially  if  inclined  to  ab- 
solutism, is  not,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, a  desirable  form  of  government 
(1  Sam.  viii.) ;  and  this  view,  as  every 
one  knows,  is  in  harmony  with  the 
drift   of    modern   thought    and    effort. 


Nineteenth  Century.  77 

We  may  add  also,  that  at  least  one  of 
the  Hebrew  prophets  anticipated  the 
coming  among  men  of  a  rep-  KepubUcan 
resentative  republican  form  »«*«'■'»•"«"*• 
of  government  like  the  one  under  which 
we  are  now  living  (Jer.  xxx.  21), — 
one  in  which  those  among  the  humblest 
classes  may  rise  to  positions  of  highest 
authority. 

Lactantius,  rejoicing  over  the  conver- 
sion of  Constantine,  indulges  in  glowing 
anticipations  of  the  approaching  regen- 
eration of  mankind,  when  the  false  gods 
shall  all  be  overthrown,  and  He  alone 
be  worshipped  whose  temples  are  not  of 
clay  or  of  stone,  but  are  men  fashioned 
in  the  image  of  their  Creator.  Benefits  of 

Bible  faith 

"  If  God  alone  were  worship-  and  practice, 
ped,  then  should  \yar  and  dissensions 


78  The  Bible  and  the 

be  no  more,  for  men  would  know  that 
they  are  all  children  of  the  same  Divine 
Father. 

"  Bound  together  in  the  sacred  and 
inviolable  bonds  of  heavenly  truth,  they 
would  no  more  plot  in  secret  against 
each  other,  when  they  should  know  the 
punishments  prepared  for  the  slayer  of 
souls  by  an  omniscient  God,  to  whom  all 
hidden  evil  and  the  innermost  secrets 
of  their  hearts  are  revealed.  Fraud 
and  rapine  would  be  no  more  ;  for  men 
would  have  learned  of  God  to  be 
content  with  what  they  have,  and  to 
seek*  for  the  lasting  gifts  of  heaven, 
rather  than  for  the  perishable  things 
of  earth. 

"  Adultery  and  prostitution  would 
cease  when  they  were  taught  that  God 


Nineteenth  Century.  79 

had  forbidden  disorderly  appetites ;  nor 
would  woman  be  forced  to  sell  her  virtue 
for  a  wretched  subsistence,  when  men 
should  control  their  passions,  and  charity 
should  minister  to  all  the  wants  of  the 
poor.  These  evils  would  vanish  from 
the  earth  if  all  were  brought  unto  the 
law  of  God,  and  all  should  do  what 
now  one  people  alone  are  found  to  do. 
How  blessed  would  be  that  golden  age 
among  men,  if  throughout  the  world 
were  love  and  kindness  and  peace  and 
innocence  and  justice  and  temperance 
and  faith!  There  would  then  be  no 
need  of  many  and  subtle  laws,  where 
innocence  would  need  only  the  one  law 
of  God.  Neither  prisons  nor  the  sword 
of  the  judge  would  be  wanted,  when  the 
hearts  of  men,  glowing  with  the  divine 


80  The  Bible  and  the 

precepts,  would  of  themselves  seek  the 
works  of  justice." 

Such  would  be  the  inestimable  bless- 
ings coming  to  any  country,  were  the 
people  governed  by  the  precepts  of 
Bible  Christianity. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  remark 
in  this  connection,  that  there  are  many 
TheBibis  fricuds  of  our  Republic  who 
unued*  ^^^'    '^*    present,    extremely 

states.  anxious    concerning    its    fu- 

ture welfare.  The  feeling  is  deepening 
in  many  hearts,  that  our  country  is 
already  within  circles  whose  centre 
is  a  destructive  whirlpool ;  that  our 
wealth,  education,  and  material  aggran- 
dizement afford  not  the  slightest  hope 
or  help ;  that  political  corruption,  and 
the   antagonisms   between    capital   and 


Nineteenth  Century.  81 

labor,  which  are  our  national  bane,  will 
become  more  and  more  threatening  and 
perilous,  and  that  before  long  the  end 
will  be  reached. 

But  can  any  one  doubt,  if  the  Ameri- 
can people  would  conform  to  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Bible,  if  they  would  make 
its   teachings   their   rule   of   faith   and 
practice,  that  blessing  instead  of  curs- 
ing would  be  found  within  our  borders, 
and  that  such  a  nation  would  rise  on 
this  continent  as  would  fill  with  trans- 
ports of  delight  the  heart  of  every  true 
patriot  ?    Does  this  statement  need  con- 
firmation ?      Says    Daniel  opinions  of 
Webster,    "If  we   abide   by  fterlwmum 
the  principles  taught  in  the  J^j^'^JJ^J. 
Bible,  our  country  will  go  on  *°''  ^owen. 
prospering  and  to  prosper;   but  if  we 


82  The  Bible  and  the 

and  our  posterity  neglect  its  instruc- 
tions and  authority,  no  man  can  tell 
how  sudden  a  catastrophe  may  over- 
whelm us,  and  bury  all  our  glory  in 
profound  obscurity." 

Of  wider  application  are  the  words  of 
William  H.  Seward,  whom  all  acknowl- 
edge to  have  been  one  of  the  ablest 
political  philosophers  this  country  has 
ever  produced :  "  The  whole  hope  of  j 
human  progress  is  suspended  on  the  / 
ever-growing  influence  of  the  Bible."/  ' 

May  I  quote,  too,  from  the  pages  of 
the  late  Professor  Francis  Bo  wen  of 
Harvard  College :  "  I  have  faithfully 
studied  most  of  what  the  philosophy  of 
these  modern  times,  and  the  science  of 
our  own  day,  assume  to  teach.  And  the 
result  is,  that  I  am  now  more  firmly 


Nineteenth  Century.  83 

convinced  than  ever,  that  what  has  been 
justly  called  the  'dirt-philosophy'  of 
materialism  and  fatalism  is  baseless  and 
false.  I  accept  with  unhesitating  convic- 
tion and  belief  the  doctrine  of  the  being 
of  one  personal  God,  the  Creator  and 
Governor  of  the  world,  and  of  one  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  dwelleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily ;  and  I 
have  found  nothing  whatever  in  the  lit- 
erature of  modern  infidelity,  which,  to 
my  mind,  casts  even  the  slightest  doubt 
upon  that  belief.  Not  being  a  clergy- 
man, I  am  not  exposed  to  the  cruel 
imputation,  which  unbelievers  have  too 
long  been  permitted  to  fling  against  the 
clergy,  of  being  induced  by  prudential 
motives  to  profess  what  they  do  not 
believe.    Let  me  be  permitted  also  to 


84  The  Bible  and  the 

repeat  the  opinion,  which  I  ventured  to 
express  as  far  back  as  1849,  that  the 
time  seems  to  have  arrived  for  a  more 
practical  and  immediate  Verification, 
than  the  world  has  ever  yet  witnessed, 
of  the  great  truth  that  the  civilization 
which  is  not  based  upon  Christianity  is 
big  with  the  elements  of  it?  own  de- 
struction." 

And  now,  does  some  one  affirm  in 
face  of  all  these  facts  and  opinions,  and 
of  a  multitude  of  similar  opinions  which 
could  be  given,  that  Bible  Christianity 
is  not  a  safeguard  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  in  this  country,  or  that  it  is  a 
damage  to  the  weal  of  our  national  and 
individual  life  and  character?  How 
utterly  preposterous ! 

Not,   therefore,   the   theories  of  the 


Nineteenth  Century.  85 

communist,  or  the  nihilist,  of  the  woild- 
liiig,  or  the  formalist,  of  the  enthusi- 
ast, or  the  ascetic,  of  the  latitudinarian, 
or  the  bigot,  of  the  Brahmin  or  the 
Mohammedan  ;  but  Bible  Christianity 
in  its  inspired  simplicity  and  power, 
which  more  than  any  thing  else  known 
among  men  checks  an  impure  fancy, 
arms  conscience  with  a  divine  power, 
awakes  religious  sensibilities,  refines  the 
moral  sentiments,  evolves  devout  affec- 
tions, displays  well-directed  philanthro- 
pies, promotes  determinations  to  do 
exactly  right  at  all  times  and  in  all 
things;  which  leads  to  industry,  in- 
spires courage,  patriotism,  and  intelli- 
gence; and  whose  tendency  is  to  make 
of  every  man  a  loyal  and  a  royal  son  of 
God, — is  what,  beyond  any  and  every 


86  The  Bible  and  the 

thing  else,  will  aid  in  establishing  the 
prosperity  and  perpetuity  of  the  Ameri- 
can Republic. 

We  next  give  attention  for  a  few 
The  Bible       minutes  to  the  subject  of  civ- 

and  civiliza- 
tion, ilization,  which  comprehends 

something  more  than  government. 

Since  the  best  human  governments, 
and  all  countries  which  are  advanced  in 
civilization,  foster  learning,  literature, 
and  art,  it  will  be  no  departure  from 
our  general  subject  briefly  to  speak,  in 
this  connection,  of  the  relation  of  the 
Bible  to  these  various  topics. 

We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  sometimes  said  that  the  influ- 
Learningand  ^nce  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the 
literature.  rcHgion  which  it  teaches,  is 
adverse   to   advancement    in    learning:. 


Nineteenth  Century.  87 

Our  reply  is :  Whatever  the  bigotry  of 
some  nominal  Christians,  or  whatever 
the  traditions  of  some  of  the  elders, 
may  have  been,  one  fact  is  certain, — 
that  Bible  religion  in  its  spirit  has  fos- 
tered every  branch  of  human  learning. 
If  this  statement  is  doubted,  let  the 
question  be  answered:  Whence  came 
the  colleges  and  universities  of  the  civ- 
ilized world  ?  The  founders  of  Prague, 
of  Vienna,  of  Heidelberg,  of  Leipzig,  of 
Leyden,  of  Utrecht,  of  Jena,  of  Halle,  of 
Tiibingen,  of  Gottingen,  of  Berlin,  and 
of  Bonn  ;  the  founders  of  Salamanca,  of 
Oviedo,  of  Valladolid;  of  Cambridge, 
of  Oxford,  of  Edinburgh,  of  Glasgow,  of 
St.  Andrews,  and  of  Aberdeen ;  the 
founders  of  Harvard,  of  Yale,  of  Dart- 
mouth, of  Union ;  and,  with  the  rarest 


88  The  Bible  and  the 

exceptions,  the  founders  of  all  other 
seminaries  and  colleges,  —  were  men 
who  had  partaken  of  the  spirit  of  Bible 
Christianity ;  who,  with  its  divine  im- 
pulses and  inspirations  upon  them,  had 
sacrificed  and  consecrated  time  and 
means  to  the  establishment  of  schools 
where  science  and  literature  could  be 
critically  studied  and  thoroughly  taught. 
Nay,  more,  "when  all  the  rest  of  man- 
kind were  caring  either  for  the  mere 
necessities  of  physical  being,  or  for 
wars  of  aggrandizement,  Bible  men  were 
holding  up  the  torch  of  science,  and 
striving  by  its  light  to  read  and  under- 
stand the  wonderful  works  of  God.  In 
the  monasteries  even,  amid  many  dark 
and  superstitious  souls  it  is  true,  were 
found  the  Roger  Bacons  who  were  the 


Nineteenth  Century.  89 

predecessors  of  the  Newtons  and  Boer- 
haaves  and  Lavoisiers  of  later  ages.  It 
is  vain  to  say  they  were  persecuted. 
That  makes  only  against  their  age ;  not 
against  themselves,  or  the  Bible  im- 
petus under  which  they  acted.  The 
universities  were  always  on  the  side  of 
liberal  study,  and  opposed  to  the  re- 
straints of  superstition  ;  and  to  them, 
under  God,  science  is  indebted  for  the 
high  ground  on  which  she  stands  to- 
day." 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore, 
that  the  friends  of  the  Bible  are  some- 
times impatient  in  view  of  the  assertion 
of  liberalists  and  sceptics,  so  often  made, 
that  Bible  Christianity  is  a  friend  of  ig- 
norance, and  a  foe  to  culture  and  intelli- 
gence?    What  mean  these  traducers? 


90  The  Bible  and  the 

The  facts  in  the  case  are,  that,  against 
the  learning  and  literature  of  the  last 
thousand  years,  there  is  an  indebted- 
ness to  the  Bible  that  can  never  be  re- 
paid. The  immortal  Sir  Walter  Scott 
is  not  the  only  man  of  literature  who 
has  cheerfully  confessed,  "  There  is  but 
one  book." 

The  influence  of  the  Bible  in  the 
realms  of  architecture  and  art  can  re- 
ceive but  a  passing  remark. 

Architecture. 

It  is  a  matter  of  fact,  that  no 
Parthenon,  indeed,  no  beautiful  architec- 
ture of  any  kind,  is  found  in  the  world 
until  after  the  building  of  the  Temple  in 
Jerusalem.  There  were  massive  struc- 
tures in  Babylon  and  Egypt ;  they  were 
imposing,  but  not  beautiful.  In  an 
essay   by   the    accomplished    architect 


Nineteenth  Century.  91 

William  Wilkins,  entitled  "The  Tem- 
ple at  Jerusalem  the  Type  of  Grecian 
Architecture,"  it  is  claimed  that  the 
finest  specimens  of  architecture  which 
adorned  the  Acropolis  were  manifestly- 
suggested  by  the  Temple  on  Mount 
Zion.  And  Robert  Wood,  in  a  treatise 
bearing  the  title,  "  The  Origin  of  Build- 
ing, and  the  Plagiarisms  of  the  Heathen 
detected,"  reaches  essentially  the  same 
conclusion. 

Now,  we  insist  that  any  peculiarity  in 
the  make-up  of  the  Jew  utterly  fails  in 
accounting  for  the  union  of  beauty  and 
magnificence  in  the  architecture  and 
outfit  of  their  temple.  Indeed,  the  en- 
tire Semitic  family  seems  to  have  been 
singularly  destitute  of  architectural  ge- 
nius.    But  if  it  is  admitted  that  the 


92  The  Bible  and  the 

plans  of  those  structures,  the  tabernacle 
and  temple,  were  given  to  the  Jews 
by  supernatural  revelation,  as  is  claimed 
to  have  been  the  case  (Exod.  xxv.  40 ; 
1  Chron.  xxviii.  11,  12),  then  at  least 
one  form  of  the  difficulty  vanishes. 

We  may  add  that  the  world's  great- 
est sculpture,  painting,  and  music  have 
found  their  inspirations  and  themes 
chiefly  in  the  Bible,  and  that  these  de- 
partments of  art  can  never  throw  off 
their  direct  and  indirect  allegiance  to 
the  pages  of  this  wonderful  book. 

We  close  our  reference  to  these  art 
matters  with  a  quotation  from  Ruskin, 
the  great  master  of  aesthetics.  All 
educated  painters  are  aware  of  the  al- 
most endless  amount  of  discussion  that 
has  existed  respecting  the  true  founda- 


Nineteenth  Century.  93 

tion  of  coloring.  Ruskin,  in  "  Modern 
Painters,"     chapter     on      "  Turnerian 

Light,"    thus    closes    the    sec-    Quotation 

tion  on  "  Color :  "  "  Finally,  '''"'"  ^'"*''*'^ 
the  ascertainment  of  the  sanctity  of 
color  is  not  left  to  human  genius.  It 
is  directly  stated  in  the  Scriptures  in 
the  sacred  chord  of  color  (blue,  purple, 
and  scarlet,  with  white  and  gold),  as 
appointed  for  the  tabernacle.  This 
chord,"  continues  Ruskin,  "is  the  fixed 
base  of  all  coloring  with  the  workmen 
of  every  great  age,  and  the  invariable 
base  of  all  beautiful  missal-painting." 

Is  it  not  singular  that  the  coloring 
and  tapestry  ordered  for  the  tabernacle, 
as  also,  we  may  add,  the  blending  of 
colors  in  the  walls  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, as    disclosed    in    the    Book   of 


94  The  Bible  and  the 

Revelation,  harmonize  perfectly  with 
the  ideal  conceptions  of  modern  art 
and  aesthetics? 

Do  some  of  these  matters  appear  of 
small  importance  ?  Taken  separately 
they  may  seem  thus,  but  not  when 
built  with  all  other  facts  into  a  defence 
of  the  Bible  as  a  book  which,  in  its 
lesser  as  well  as  its  greater  and  grander 
revelations,  has  been  guarded  against 
errors,  ancient  and  modern. 

In  order  that  the  impression  of  nar- 
rowness as  to  our  range  of  view,  while 
discussing  the  influence  of  the  Bible 
upon  the  world's  civilization,  may  not 
be  left  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader, 
we  enlarge  for  a  moment  the  circle  of 
vision  before  passing  to  other  matters. 

It  is  a  fact  in  history  which,  perhaps, 


Nineteenth  Century.  95 

no   one   will  venture   to   dispute,  that 
civil     and    religious    liberty,    national 
purity  and    advancement,  The  Bible 
have    been    coincident   with  '"V***  • 

history  of 

the  knowledge  and   practice  eiTiWMtion. 
among  the  people  of  Bible  truths,  or  at 
least  of  such  truths  as  are  found  in  the 
Bible. 

That   the   Commonwealth    of   Israel 

throughout     its     history    was    common- 
wealth of 

prosperous  in  proportion   to  israei. 

its  adherence  to  Bible   precepts,  is  an 

acknowledged  historic  fact. 

That  the  other  ancient  civilized 
countries  of  the  world,  notably  those 
bordering  upon  Palestine,  Ancient 
had  been  influenced  by  what  «»'^"»"»t«<>n8- 
are  termed  sacred  truths,  received  from 
Noah,  Abraham,  and   Moses,  and  had 


96  The  Bible  and  the 

been  benefited  by  them,  —  truths  which 
were  religiously  preserved  by  the  patri- 
archs and  prophets,  entering  subse- 
quently into  the  composition  of  the 
Bible,  —  is  no  longer  a  question  in  dis- 
pute. And,  further,  that  the  overthrow 
of  those  civilizations  is  traceable  to 
practices  which  are  antagonistic  to  those 
enjoined  in  the  Bible,  is  a  fact  that  can 
•be  easily  established. 

That  Greece  and  Rome,  too,  in  the 
earlier  periods  of  their  history,  were 
Gre«<:e  and  benefited  by  an  acquaintance 
Bo»*-  with    the    Jewish    common- 

wealth, and  religion,  can  no  longer  be 
doubted.  How  much  or  how  directly 
that  acquaintance  may  have  contributed 
to  their  greatness  and  glory,  we  may 
never  be  able  to  ascertain ;  but  tliat  it 


Nineteenth  Century.  97 

was  in  no  small  degree,  will  be  cheer- 
fully admitted.  And  that  their  subse- 
quent overthrow  resulted  from  the 
indulgence  of  practices  which  are  op- 
posed to  Bible  commandment,  is  as  clear 
as  any  other  fact  in  their  history. 

Also,  that  all  heathen  lands,  ancient 
and  modern,  are  anti-biblical  in  their 
faith  and  practice,  is  another  |j,.^jhen 
fact  so  true  that  no  one  **"'•'*• 
would  think  of  calling  it  in  question  ; 
indeed,  such  countries  are  and  have  been 
heathen  and  degraded  because  in  their 
practices  they  are  anti-biblical. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  all  these  facts, 
is  there  any  room  for  doubt  that  the 
best  civilizations  of  antiquity  were,  at 
least  in  some  instances,  directly  bene- 
fited by  Bible  truth,  and  in  every  in- 


98  The  Bible  and  the 

stance  were  made  greater  by  their 
conformity  to  truths  like  those  found 
in  the  Bible,  and  declined  when  that 
conformity  ceased  ? 

But  let  us  pass  to  later  times.  Bible 
Christianity  succeeded  Bible  Judaism, 
HediffiTai  ^^^  ^^®  pcoplcs  comiug  Under 
times.  '^g    influence    were    blessed. 

But  since  the  normal  tendencies  of 
humanity  are  downward,  nominal  Chris- 
tians, as  might  be  expected,  soon  lapsed 
from  their  adherence  to  the  pure  and 
beautiful  precepts  of  the  gospel.  Bible 
truth,  therefore,  was  again  hidden  from 
the  mass  of  the  people;  and  their  joy 
was  turned  to  mourning,  their  light  to 
darkness. 

Since  those  times  there  is  no  disput- 
ing the  fact  that  light  has  been  in  pro* 


Nineteenth  CentUry.  99 

portion  to  the  prevalence  of  Bible  faith 
and  practice.  When,  for  instance,  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  Wick-  ^^^^^^^ 
liff  and  Huss  translated  the  '^"'•p*- 
Bible,  and  preached  its  truths,  they 
inaugurated  almost  a  new  era  in  the 
world's  history. 

When  Luther,  too,  in  the  sixteenth 
century  brought  the  truths  of  the  Bible 
from  the  convent  of  Erfurth,  and  gave 
them  to  the  people,  he  roused  to  mental 
and  moral  life  not  only  the  slumbering 
German  nationality,  but  gave  inspira- 
tion to  every  other  country  in  Europe. 
"Gutenburg  with  his  printing-press, 
Columbus  with  his  compass,  Galileo 
with  his  telescope,  Shakspeare  with  his 
dramas,  and  almost  every  other  man  of 
note   figuring  during  those  times,  are 


100  The  Bible  and  the 

grouped,  not  around  some  distinguished 
man  of  science,  or  man  of  letters,  or 
man  of  mechanical  genius,  or  man  fa- 
mous in  war  ;  but  around  that  monk  of 
Wittenberg,  who  stood  with  an  un- 
chained Bible  in  his  hand." 

And  when  that  other  remarkable 
group  of  reformers  during  the  eighteenth 
century  re-enforced  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  the  people  again  started  from 
their  nightmare  and  anguish  on  a  new 
and  grand  march  of  civilization  and  pros- 
perity. 

The  history  of  the  Dutch  Republic, 
too,  shows  that  it  was  the  recognition 
of  Bible  truth,  and  loyalty  to  it,  which 
placed  Holland,  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  in  the  fore-front  of  the  civili* 
zation  of  the  world. 


Nineteenth  Century.  101 

And  Scotland,  though  peopled  for 
centimes,  had  no  prosperous  national 
life  until  it  was  stirred  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  Bible  thought  and  practice. 

"  Bible  faith  and  practice  "  was,  too, 
the  bold  inscription  upon  the  banner 
of  the  Puritans,  and  made  New  Eng- 
land what  it  is.  And  the  present 
laxity  and  unrest  of  our  country  come, 
as  men  begin  to  suspect,  from  trailing 
that  same  royal  banner  in  the  dust. 

But  we  must  pause  in  this  historic 
review.  Before  doing  so,  however,  we 
wish  to  ask  those  who  are  wont  to  say 
that  the  Bible  is  merely  a  book  among 
other  books,  how  it  chanced  Another 

important 

that  these  Bible  writers  and  question, 
compilers,  who,  for  the  most  part,  lived 
in  a  country  of  limited  territory,  whose 


102  The  Bible  and  the 

educational  advantages  were  far  from 
the  best,  whose  nation  during  the  greater 
part  of  its  history  was  entirely  destitute 
of  political  influence,  could  under  such 
circumstances  have  given  the  world  a 
book  which  in  all  matters  of  law,  poli- 
tics, and  government,  likewise  in  mat- 
ters relating  to  what  is  highest,  best, 
and  grandest  in  modern  civilization, 
stands  without  a  peer  in  this  world's 
literature  ? 

Ah,  wonderful  book !  Men,  we  trust, 
will  some  day  acknowledge  thy  claims 
to  special  authorship. 


The  next  field  of  knowledge  to 
which  we  ask  attention  is  that  included 
under   natural   history.      One    of   the 


Nineteenth  Century.  103 

principles  governing  this  discussion, 
already  announced,  we  repeat :  that, 
while  the  Bible  was  not  de-  TheBiMe 

and  natural 

signed  to  be  a  treatise  upon  history, 
natural  history,  still,  however  numerous 
its  statements  or  allusions  in  this  de- 
partment of  science,  there  must  be  no 
inaccuracy,  provided  the  book  is  what 
orthodoxy  represents  it  to  be. 

Under  the  general  head  of  natural 
history,  we  speak  first  of  botany.  Up- 
on   examination    it   will    be 

Botanjr. 

found  that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment alone  contains  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  distinct  botanical  terms. 
It  speaks  of  the  flora  of  all  the  ancient 
countries  bordering  upon  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea ;  the  great  cedar  of  Lebanon  is 
described  and  extolled,  and  the  little  vine 


104  The  Bible  and  the 

on  the  trellis  is  not  forgotten :  and  yet 
no  inaccuracy  is  found  in  any  of  its 
statements  or  allusions.  Can  this  fact 
be  other  than  a  surprise  to  any  one  who 
is  familiar  with  what  Plato,  Empedocles, 
Aristotle,  and  Plutarch  have  said  as  to 
the  composition  and  nature  of  the  plant- 
world?  We  are  not  criticising  the 
ignorance  or  the  crude  and  wild  hy- 
potheses of  those  wise  men :  we  are 
merely  expressing  surprise  at  the  wis- 
dom of  the  "  ignorant  men  "  (?)  who 
wrote  the  Bible. 

The  latest  botanists  are  classifying 
plants  according  to  what  is  known  as 
the  seed-method.  But  this  is  the  meth- 
od employed  by  Moses  when  speaking 
of  the  grass  and  herb  yielding  seed,  and 
the  tree  yielding  fruit  whose  seed  is  in 


Nineteenth  Century.  105 

itself  (Gen.  i.  12).  This,  for  a  general 
classification,  is  perfect,  and  is  modern. 
Even  the  geology  of  the  plant-world, 
as  to  which  other  ancient  literature 
abounds  in  all  sorts  of  errors,  is  with  ab- 
solute correctness  disclosed  in  the  Bible. 
Thus,  too,  of  zoological  science, 
which  is  another  department  of  natural 
history.  While  many  of  the 
views  advanced  by  Anaxago- 
ras,  Pythagoras,  Plato,  Democritus,  and 
Epicurus  seem,  according  to  modern 
view,  to  be  needlessly  and  grossly  at 
fault,  yet,  under  the  most  recent  and 
careful  examination,  the  Bible,  though 
describing  all  sorts  of  animal  life,  from 
the  leviathan  to  the  snail,  from  the  lion  in 
the  forest  to  the  moth  upon  the  gar- 
ment, is  found  to  be  above  reasonable 


106  The  Bible  and  the 

criticism.  Its  accuracy  in  some  respects 
is  remarkable.  It  speaks  of  the  vulture, 
not  in  the  words  of  the  poet,  as  scenting 
"  the  carrion  from  afar,"  but  as  finding 
its  prey  through  the  keenness  of  its  eye, 
which  is,  as  a  matter  of  scientific  fact, 
correct;  it  speaks  of  the  industry  and 
provident  character  of  the  ant,  a  state- 
ment once  ridiculed,  but  now  confirmed 
in  the  known  habits  of  the  "  harvesting 
ant "  of  Syria ;  it  discloses  the  fact  that 
animal  life  inhabited  the  sea  before 
appearing  upon  the  earth ;  it  gives  cor- 
rectly the  geology  of  animal  life,  and 
enumerates  the  four  great  divisions  of 
the  animal  creation  in  the  order  of 
nature,  as  now  taught  by  the  most  ap- 
proved science,  —  beasts,  birds,  reptiles, 
and  fishes. 


Nineteenth  Century.  107 

So  likewise  the  references  of  the  Bible 
to  the  various  meteorological  phenom- 
ena are  worthy  of  attention, 

Heteorologry* 

though  they  can  receive  but 
a  passing  mention.  Note  the  following: 
"All  the  rivers  run  into  the  sea ;  unto 
the  place  from  whence  the  rivers  come, 
thither  they  return  again  "  (Eccles.  i.  7) ; 
and,  "The  wind  goeth  towards  the  south, 
and  turneth  about  unto  the  north.  The 
wind  returneth  again  according  to  its 
circuit "  (Eccles.  i.  6).  These  may  be 
poetic  statements,  but  that  does  not  ex- 
plain how,  as  brief  and  accurate  descrip- 
tions of  water  and  aerial  circulations, 
they  chance  to  have  scarcely  a  parallel 
in  the  literature  of  the  ancient  world, 
and  can  hardly  be  improved  upon  even 
in  our  own  day. 


108  The  Bible  and  the 

"  He  that  fainteth  not,  neither  is 
weary,"  is  represented  as  the  One  who 
hath  made  "a  decree  for  the  rain,  and 
a  way  for  the  lightning."  He  it  is  who 
"bindeth  np  the  waters  in  his  thick 
cloud,  and  the  cloud  is  not  rent  under 
them ; "  "  he  draweth  np  the  drops  of 
water:  rain  is  condensed  from  his 
vapor."  These  also  are  held  to  be 
poetic  expressions,  but  their  accuracy 
is  none  the  less  a  marvel. 

It  is  likewise  the  Infinite  One,  "  who 
hath  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand,  and  meted  out  heaven  with 
the  span,  and  comprehended  the  dust 
of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and  weighed 
the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills 
in  a  balance"  (Isa.  xl.  12).  This  lan- 
guage is  but  another  way  of  saying  that 


Nineteenth  Century.  109 

in  the  physical  universe  there  are  the 
nicest  adjustments  of  part  to  part;  that 
"one  grain  more  or  less  of  sand,"  to 
quote  from  science,  "  would  disturb,  or 
even  fatally  disorder,  except  for  some 
supernatural  interposition,  the  whole 
scheme  of  the  heavenly  motions." 

The  object  we  have  in  view  in  this 
treatise  does  not  allow  further  discus- 
sion in  the  field  of  natural  history. 
We,  therefore,  merely  add  that  not- 
withstanding the  Bible,  as  we  have 
seen,  refers  to  a  multitude  of  phenom« 
ena  belonging  to  this  department  of 
science ;  and  notwithstanding  the  con- 
temporaneous or  nearly  contemporane- 
ous treatises  of  the  Indians,  the  Chinese, 
the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans,  abound 
in   the   falsest   speculations,  —  still   no 


110  The  Bible  and  the 

mistakes  are  found  in  the  Bible.  Its 
records  in  these  respects  are  as  immacu- 
late as  if  written  by  the  best  scholars 
of  modern  times.  We  do  not  claim 
that  the  Bible  is  as  full  as  if  it  were 
designed  to  be  a  scientific  treatise,  or 
that  its  writers  themselves  understood 
all  they  said,  or  that  in  every  instance 
they  knew  distinctly  why  they  compiled 
into  the  Bible  some  materials,  and  re- 
jected others  which  were  at  their  com- 
mand :  we  simply  assert  that  thus  far  in 
our  investigations  we  find  the  Bible  free 
from  the  errors  which  everywhere  pre- 
vailed at  the  time  it  was  composed. 
The  statement  of  the  late  Lieut.  Maury, 
who  is  now  recognized  as  having  been 
one  of  tlie  leading  scientific  men  of  his 
age,  on  account  of  both  his  valuable  dis- 


Nineteenth  Century.  Ill 

coveries,  and  his  contributions  to,  scien- 
tific literature,  is  in  point,  and  is  author- 
itative. In  his  "Physical  Geography 
of  the  Sea,"  he  employs  this  ^^^^^^^  ^^ 
language:  "The  Bible  fre-  i^ient. Maary. 
quently  makes  allusion  to  the  laws  of 
nature,  their  operation  and  effects.  But 
such  allusions  are  often  so  wrapped  in 
the  folds  of  the  peculiar  and  graceful 
drapery  with  which  its  language  is  oc- 
casionally clothed,  that  the  meaning, 
though  peeping  out  from  its  thin  cov- 
ering all  the  while,  yet  lies  in  some 
sense  concealed,  until  the  lights  and 
revelations  of  science  are  thrown  upon 
it ;  then  it  bursts  out,  and  strikes  us 
with  the  more  force  and  beauty."  And 
elsewhere  this  distinguished  writer  re- 
marks, "I  have   always   found   in   my 


112  The  Bible  and  the 

scientific  studies,  that,  when  I  could  get 
the  Bible  to  say  any  thing  upon  the 
subject,  it  afforded  me  a  firm  platform 
to  stand  upon,  and  a  round  in  the  lad- 
der by  which  I  could  safely  ascend." 
These  words  read  like  those  of  the 
Psalmist  when  saying,  "  Therefore  I 
esteem  all  thy  precepts  concerning  all 
things  to  be  right." 

But  can  it  be  possible  that  in  all 
these  matters  there  should  have  been 
this  freedom  from  mistakes,  and  in  the 
light  of  modern  investigation  this  won- 
derful accuracy  of  statement,  unless  the 
Bible  writers  and  compilers  were,  as 
the  apostle  says,  '•'■  jpheromenoi^''  borne 
along  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  shij)  is 
borne  before  the  wind? 


Nineteenth  Century.  113 

At  this  point  some  one  asks,  Why 
does  the  writer  spend  his  time  with  this 
less-controverted  subject-matter?  Why 
does  he  not  boldly  take  up  matters 
found  within  the  realms  of  geology  and 
astronomy,  over  which  the  friends  and 
the  enemies  of  the  Bible  have  been 
waging  their  fiercest  warfare?  The 
question  is  pertinent,  and  we  at  once 
and  willingly  accept  the  implied  chal- 
lenge. 

Ancient  literature  bearing  upon  the 
origin    of   the   earth    is   comparatively 
full,  and  not  devoid   of  in-  ^he  BiWe 
terest.  •"''  »*'"'"«^y- 

The  Egyptians,  as  Plato  informs  us, 
taught  tliat  the  earth  and  the  heavens 
originated  out  of  a  kind  of  pulp,  and 
that  men  were  generated  from  the  slime 


114  The  Bible  and  the 

of  the  river  Nile.    Other  sages  of  Egypt 

held  that  the  world  was  hatched  from  a 

winged  e^s..     It  may  be  too 

Teachings  of  &  &o  J 

the  ancients     bold  to  Say  that  modem  sci- 

as  to  the 

origin  of        ence  can  disprove  these  theo- 
"^*'  ries ;  but  all  friends  of  the 

Bible  are  well  pleased  that  Moses  did 
not  say  men  were  generated  from  the 
slime  of  the  river  Nile,  and  that  Solo- 
mon did  not  say  the  world  was  hatched 
from  a  winged  egg.  But  why  did  not 
these  Bible  writers  so  teach  ?  Was  not 
Moses  "learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians  "  ? 

Lucretius,  in  his  poem  "  On  the  Na- 
ture of  Things,"  affirms  that  "nature 
does  all  things  spontaneously,  without 
the  intermeddlino:  of  the  gods."  But 
modern  research  announces  that  there 


Nineteenth  Century.  115 

is  not  the  slightest  evidence  that  any 
form  of  life  ever  has  been,  or  ever  can 
be,  produced  by  spontaneous  generation. 

Aristotle  claimed  that  matter  pro- 
duced all  things.  But  modern  research 
finds  not  a  shred  of  evidence  that  mat- 
ter can  produce  any  form  of  life,  even 
the  lowest,  except  through  the  agency 
of  antecedent  life. 

Zeno  held  that  the  universe  sprang 
into  existence  from  its  own  inherent 
energy,  and  Epicurus  taught  that  it 
happened  to  come  into  existence  "  by  a 
fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms."  But 
"  inherent  energy,"  and  "  fortuitous  con- 
course of  atoms,"  are  expressions  which 
are  now  being  set  aside  by  science. 

Plutarch,  after  studying  all  the  an- 
cient philosophers,  arrived  at  this  con- 


116  The  Bible  and  the 

elusion :  "  TJie  insectible  bodies,  or 
atoms,  by  a  wild  and  fortuitous  motion, 
without  any  governing  power,  inces- 
santly and  swiftly  were  hurried  one 
against  another,  many  bodies  being 
jumbled  together;  upon  this  account 
they  have  a  diversity  in  their  figures 
and  magnitude.  .  .  .  After  this  manner 
the  principal  parts  of  the  earth  were 
constituted."  One  need  not  be  told 
that  these  words,  in  the  light  of  modern 
investigation,  are  nothing  but  the  sheer- 
est nonsense. 

Still  cruder  and  falser,  if  possible,  are 
the  views  that  have  prevailed  in  India 
and  China.  Of  these  we  have  no  need 
or  time  to  speak. 

These  opinions  and  teachings  of 
ancient    literature    bearing    upon    the 


Nineteenth  Century.  117 

origin  of  things  have,  beyond  contro- 
versy, no  modern  scientific  support. 
The  statement  of  Sir  William       _ 

Sir  William 

Thomson,  in  his  address  upon  Thomson 

gives  expres- 

taking  the  presidential  chair  siontomod- 
of  the  British  Association,  at 
the  Edinburgh  meeting,  may  be  taken 
as  representative  of  the  best  thought 
of  the  present  age.  Heinrich  Frey, 
Lionel  S.  Beale,  W.  H.  Dallinger,  Lotze, 
Wuudt,  Helmholtz,  and  other  of  the 
profouudest  thinkers  of  Europe  and 
America,  have  given  expression  to  the 
same  opinion. 

"A  very  ancient  speculation,"  says 
Thomson,  "  still  clung  to  by  many  natu- 
ralists (so  much  so,  that  I  have  a  choice 
of  modern  terms  to  quote  in  expressing 
it),  supposes  that,  under  meteorological 


118  The  Bible  and  the 

conditions  very  different  from  the  pres- 
ent, dead  matter  may  have  run  together 
or  crystallized  or  fermented  into  'germs 
of  life,'  or  'organic  cells,'  or  'proto- 
plasm.' But  science  brings  a  vast  mass 
of  inductive  evidence  against  this  hy- 
pothesis of  spontaneous  generation,  as 
you  have  heard  from  my  predecessor  in 
the  presidential  chair.  Careful  enough 
scrutiny  has,  in  every  case  up  to  the 
present  day,  discovered  life  as  ante- 
cedent to  life.  Dead  matter  cannot 
become  living  without  coming  under 
the  influence  of  matter  previously  alive. 
This  seems  to  me  as  sure  a  teaching  of 
science  as  the  law  of  gravitation." 

But  what  is  this  life  that  never  had  a 
beginning,  that  has  life  in  and  of  itself 
eternally  ?    this    that   commanded   the 


Nineteenth  Century.  119 

earth  to  "  bring  forth  grass,  the  herb 
yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree  yield- 
ing fruit  after  his  kind  "  ?  that  com- 
manded the  waters  to  "bring  forth 
abundantly  the  moving  creature  that 
hath  life  "?  and  that  "giveth  to  all  life, 
and  breath,  and  all  things "  ?  The 
Bible  upon  its  every  page  declares  that 
this  antecedent  Life  and  Maker  of  all 
things  is  a  supreme  Intelligence,  called 
God ;  and  modern  science  makes  the 
same  confession,  or  is  dumb. 

From  the  origin  of  the  earth  to  the 
history  of  its  subsequent  formations,  is 
the  next  step  in  our  investigations. 
Any  attempt  to  treat  all  the  various 
matters  relating  to  the  geology  of  the 
Bible  in  their  fulness  is  manifestly  out 
of   the    question.      Such  a  treatment 


120  The  Bible  and  the 

would  of  itself  require  a  volume  of 
many  pages.  The  object  we  have  in 
view  may,  therefore,  be  best  accom- 
plished by  quoting  the  opinions  of  those 
who  are  in  every  way  fitted  to  judge 
in  these  matters.  And  certainly  all 
thoughtful  men,  under  the  circum- 
stances, will  justify  this  argument 
based  upon  authority. 

The  first  proposition  to  be  estab- 
lished is  this :  While  the  Bible  was  not 
written  to  teach  geological  science,  it 
has  nevertheless,  in  a  general  way,  es- 
pecially in  the  first  chapters  of  Genesis, 
recorded  the   geological  his- 

°  °  Opinions  of 

tory   of    our    globe  ;    and,    aC-    eminent  men 

as  to  the 

cording  to  the   testimony  of  geology  of 

^._       the  Bible. 

men    eminent    as     scientinc 
thinkers,  it  has  made  in  its  record  no 


Nineteenth  Century.  121 

mistakes.  The  following  testimonies 
are  presented  in  evidence. 

"  The  relation  of  geology,  as  well  as 
astronomy,  to  the  Bible,  when  both  are 
understood,"  says  the  late  Professor 
Silliman  of  Yale  College,  "is  that  of 
perfect  harmony." 

Chancellor  Dawson,  who  has  be- 
stowed upon  this  subject  the  most 
patient  and  critical  attention,  thus 
expresses  the  result  of  his  investiga- 
tions as  to  what  is  termed  the  geology 
of  Moses :  "  The  order  of  creation,  as 
stated  in  Genesis,  is  faultless  in  the 
light  of  modern  science,  and  many  of 
its  details  present  the  most  remarkable 
agreement  with  the  results  of  sciences 
born  only  in  our  own  day." 

Similar  to   these  words,  though   not 


122  The  Bible  and  the 

so  explicit,  are  those  of  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Benjamin  Peirce  of  Harvard 
College :  "  Science  and  religion  were 
born  of  the  same  house,  and  that  house 
is  not  divided  against  itself.  There  is 
and  will  be  an  apparent  conflict  be- 
tween them  ;  but  it  is  of  human  origin, 
arising  from  the  defects  of  our  knowl- 
edge and  not  from  the  greatness  of  it." 
Professor  Arnold  Henry  Guyot, 
whose  name  is  enrolled  with  almost 
every  noted  scientific  association  of  the 
world,  thus  speaks  of  the  harmony  be- 
tween the  Bible  and  nature's  records  of 
creation :  "  To  a  sincere  and  unsophis- 
ticated mind,  it  must  be  evident  that 
the  grand  outlines  sketched  by  Moses 
are  the  same  as  those  which  modern 
science  enables  us  to  trace.     The  same 


Nineteenth  Century.  123 

divine  Hand  which  lifted  up  before  the 
eyes  of  Daniel  and  of  Isaiah  the  veil 
which  covered  the  tableau  of  time  to 
come,  unveiled  before  the  eyes  of  the 
author  of  Genesis  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
creation ;  and  Moses  was  the  prophet  of 
the  past,  as  Daniel  and  Isaiah  and  many 
others  were  the  prophets  of  the  future." 
Hugh  Miller,  whose  acute  observa- 
tion, exact  reasoning,  and  finished  style 
have  rendered  him  celebrated  in  science 
and  literature,  speaking  of  the  geologic 
prophecies  of  the  Scriptures,  says, 
"These  latent  scientific  prophecies  or 
anticipations  of  the  word  of  God,  of 
which  we  have  been  speaking,  seem  to 
have  been  so  deeply  embedded  in  the 
sacred  text  that  the  world  has  not  seen 
them  hitherto ;  nor,  indeed,  could   see 


124  The  Bible  and  the 

them  now,  were  it  not  that  our  advan- 
cing science  is  revealing  them.  The 
geologic  prophecies,  though  they  might 
have  been  read,  could  not  be  under- 
stood till  the  fulness  of  the  time  had 
come.  And  it  is  only  as  the  fulness  of 
the  time  comes,  in  the  brighter  light 
of  increasing  scientific  knowledge,  that 
these  grand  old  oracles  of  the  Bible,  so 
apparently  simple,  but  so  marvellously 
pregnant  with  meaning,  stand  forth  at 
once  cleared  of  all  erroneous  human 
glosses,  and  vindicated  as  the  inspired 
testimonies  of  Jehovah." 

Professor  Dana,  whose  scientific  pub- 
lications have  placed  him  in  the  front 
rank  among  philosophic  naturalists, 
speaks  thus  while  writing  of  the  Mosaic 
account  of  creation :  "  The  first  thought 


Nineteenth  Century.  125 

that  strikes  the  scientific  reader  is  the 
evidence  of  divinity,  not  merely  in  the 
first  verse  of  the  record  and  the  succes- 
sive fiats,  but  in  the  whole  order  of 
creation.  There  is  so  much  chat  the 
most  recent  readings  of  science  have 
for  the  first  time  explained,  that  the 
idea  of  man  as  the  author  becomes 
utterly  incomprehensible.  By  proving 
the  record  true,  science  pronounces  it 
divine ;  for  who  could  have  correctly 
narrated  the  secrets  of  eternity  but 
God  himself?"  Elsewhere  this  same 
professor  has  happily  put  his  thought 
thus:  "The  grand  old  Book  of  God 
still  stands ;  and  this  old  earth,  the 
more  its  leaves  are  turned  and  pon- 
dered, the  more  will  it  sustain  and 
illustrate  the  sacred  Word." 


126  The  Bible  and  the 

Speaking  of  Psalm  civ,,  Baron  Hum- 
boldt says,  "  We  are  astonished  to  find 
in  a  lyrical  poem  of  such  a  limited 
compass  the  whole  universe — the  heav- 
ens and  the  earth  —  sketched  with  a  few 
bold  touches.  .  .  .  This  contrast  and 
generalization  in  the  conception  of 
natural  phenomena,  and  the  retrospec- 
tion of  an  omnipresent  invisible  Power 
which  can  renew  the  earth,  or  crumble 
it  to  dust,  constitute  a  solemn  and 
exalted  form  of  poetic  creation." 

Now,  must  not  testimony  from  so 
many  authorities  be  respected?  Of 
course  it  must.  Therefore,  young  men, 
when  the  sceptic  says  to  you  that  the 
teachings  of  science  have  demolished 
the  Bible,  it  is  your  privilege  with 
modesty,  yet  with   firmness,   to   reply, 


Nineteenth  Century.  127 

"Some  of  the  ablest  scientific  men  of 
this  world  think  otherwise,  and  hold 
the  Bible  in  supreme  admiration." 

It  is  at  this  point  that  certain  mat- 
ters should  be  carefully  noted.  When, 
for  instance,  these  Bible  accounts  of 
the  creation  were  committed  to  writing, 
modern  science  had  not  had  its  dawn ; 
and  at  that  time,  too,  the  now-rejected 
systems  and  theories  of  ancient  scien- 
tists were  in  their  development,  and 
were  holding  sway  over  the  thoughts  of 
men.  How,  therefore,  did  it  happen,  if 
there  is  nothing  exceptional  about  the 
Bible,  that,  without  being  in  the  least 
contaminated  by  opinions  then  preva- 
lent, it  maintained  from  first  to  last  a 
solitary  path  of  scientific  accuracy  ? 

You  who  can  make  estimates,  judge 


128  The  Bible  and  the 

what  are  the  chances,  if  the  Bible  is 
only  an  ordinary  book,  that  Moses 
would  have  written  widely  different 
from  all  his  contemporaries,  and  at  the 
same  time  in  harmony  with  that  which 
is  most  recent  in  science  ?  How  did  it 
chance  that  the  Bible  reports  that  light 
was  the  first  product  of  creative  energy, 
and  that  man  was  the  last;  and  that 
the  creation  of  light,  the  creation  of 
man,  and  the  order  of  the  intervening 
stages  of  creation  as  outlined  by  Moses, 
are  not  only  not  in  conflict,  but  are  in 
perfect  harmony,  with  the  most  recent 
announcements  of  both  astronomical 
and  geological  science  ? 

Sublime  are  the  representations  as 
found  in  the  original  text:  "In  the 
beginning  had  God  created  the  heavens 


Nineteenth  Century.  129 

and  the  earth.  And  the  earth  had  be- 
come a  waste  and  a  void,  and  darkness 
was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep :  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  brooding  upon  the 
face  of  the  water  "  (Gen.  i.  1,  2).  This 
hinguage  covers  the  geological  history 
of  the  world  down  to  the  darkness  and 
devastations  of  the  ice  and  drift  epochs. 
Then  follows  an  account  of  the  Mosaic 
days  of  creation  (Gen.  v.  1-27),  in  an 
absolutely  faultless  order,  as  typified 
by  those  vast  geological  periods. 
Whence,  therefore,  this  accurate  ac- 
count of  the  creation,  which,  among  all 
the  other  cosmogonies  of  antiquity,  — 
the  records  and  traditions  of  the  Baby- 
lonians, the  Egyptians,  the  Assyrians, 
the  peoples  of  India,  the  masses  of 
China,     the     writings     of    Herodotus, 


130  The  Bible  and  the 

Thales,  Pythagoras,  Aristotle,  Plato, 
Zeno,  Epicurus,  and  other  Greeks  and 
many  Romans,  —  stands  alone,  chal- 
lenging the  world's  acknowledgment 
and  admiration  ?  Can  these  facts  by 
any  thoughtful  person  be  set  aside  with 
a  sneer  ? 


But  let  us  pass  for  a  few  moments  to 
the  field  of  astronomical  science.  You 
The  Bible       need  not  be  told  of  the  dis- 

and  astron-  •         i         i  , 

omy.  coveries  that  have  been  made, 

nor  of  all  the  appliances  in  use  for 
making  discoveries  in  the  stellar  uni- 
verse. There  are  now  telescopes  of 
such  penetrating  power  that  by  look- 
ing through  them  you  can  read,  in  a 
clear  atmosphere,  it  is  claimed,  ordinary 
print  twenty  miles  distant.    And  there 


Nineteenth  Century.  131 

are  microscopes  of  such  magnifj'ing 
power  that  looking  through  them  the 
edge  of  a  razor,  which  is  supposed  to 
be  the  one-thousandth  of  an  inch  in 
thickness,  appears,  it  is  said,  to  have 
the  breadth  of  three  fingers  on  a  man's 
hand ;  while  a  dot  so  small  that  three 
of  them  can  lie  side  by  side  across  the 
edge  of  the  sharpest  razor,  may  be 
magnified  to  the  size  of  an  English 
shilling.  There  are  spectroscopes,  too, 
which  can  tell  you,  beyond  question, 
what  are  the  materials  now  in  a  state 
of  combustion,  not  only  on  the  sun,  but 
on  stars  so  remote  that  the  comprehen- 
sion of  their  distances  is  impossible. 
Telescopes  have  been,  and  are  now, 
everywhere  busy  watching  and  search- 
ing the  stars;  and  of  late  the  spectro- 


132  The  Bible  and  the 

scope,  too,  is  lifting  up  to  them  its 
curious  eye.  The  Christian  believer, 
meanwhile,  is  wont  to  ask,  "  What  are 
the  results  of  all  these  explorations  in 
the  physical  heavens  ?  Are  they  harm- 
ful to  the  Bible,  or  otherwise  ?  " 

This,  at  the  outset,  will  be  conceded : 
that  if  the  Bible  is  merely  like  other 
books,  and  if  other  books  of  con  tern  j)0- 
raneous  date,  in  the  light  of  modern 
investigation,  are  filled  with  erroneous 
astronomical  statements,  then  we  may 
also  expect  to  find  in  the  Bible  similar 
mis-statements. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  upon  ex- 
amination it  shall  appear  that  the  Bible, 
itest  having  had  many  things   to 

question.  ^^y  j^g  ^q  ^j^g  Origin  and  build- 
ing of  the  stars  aud  the  earth,  though 


Nineteenth  Century.  133 

not  designed  to  be  a  special  treatise 
upon  world-building  and  astronomy,  has 
escaped  all  the  errors  of  the  ancients; 
and  if  it  is  the  only  book  of  ancient 
date  that  has  thus  escaped;  and,  fur- 
ther, if  it  shall  appear  that  the  Bible 
harmonizes  with  what  is  established  and 
recent  in  astronomical  science,  and  is 
the  only  ancient  book  that  does  harmo- 
nize with  recent  investigations,  —  then 
does  it  not  follow  that  the  Bible  carries 
upon  its  pages  incontestable  evidence  of 
a  high  and  matchless  authority  and  au- 
thorship ?  What,  therefore,  are  the  facts 
in  the  case?  is  the  question  confronting 
us. 

It  is  well  known  that  telescopes, 
microscopes,  and  spectroscopes  have 
played  much  havoc  with  most  of  the 


134  Th6  Bible  and  the 

ancient  treatises  and  systems  of  astron- 
omy and  astrology.  They  have  fatally 
smitten  the  astrologers  of  Babylon  and 
Assyria,  the  shasters  of  India,  the  as- 
tronomy of  Ptolemy,  the  cosmogonies 
of  the  intellectual  Greeks  and  Romans, 
the  partially  borrowed  Koran  of  Mo- 
hammed, and  the  speculative  scientific 
views  of  nearly  all  the  church  Fathers. 

But  it  is,  or  ought  to  be,  equally  well 
known,  that  telescopes,  microscopes,  and 
spectroscopes  have  not  played  havoc 
with  revelations  as  to  these  subjects 
found  in  the  Bible.  The  conclusion, 
therefore,  seems  to  be  inevitable. 

But  perhaps  these  points  need  illus- 
Ancient  tratiou.  We,  therefore,  first 
Mtroiogj.  ^^Y\  attention,  for  a  moment, 
to  certain  views   concerning   the  influ- 


Nineteenth  Century.  135 

ence,  or,  rather,  the  supposed  influence, 
of  the  stars  upon  human  interests  and 
destiny. 

In  early  times  the  sincerity  of  man's 
6elief  as  to  the  influence  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  in  all  the  affairs  of  life  cannot  be 
doubted.  The  science  of  astrology  was 
the  outgrowth  of  that  faith,  and  is 
coeval  with  the  science  of  astronomy. 

Among  the  most  civilized  of  ancient 
nations,  and  especially  in  those  periods 
and  countries  where  the  stars  were  be- 
lieved to  have  life,  astrology  became 
almost  an  essential  part  of  the  national 
character  and  thinking.  It  shared  the 
favor  of  the  common  people,  and  the 
patronage  of  kings  and  rulers. 

Astrology  was   divided  into  natural 

and    judicial.      Natural    astrology   ob- 
10 


136  The  Bible  and  the 

served  what  were  the  different  aspects 
of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  decided 
upon  the  relative  importance  of  star- 
appearances,  and  showed  what  natural 
phenomena,  such  as  eclipses,  winds, 
storms,  earthquakes,  and  the  like,  would 
result  from  given  appearances  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  Judicial  astrology, 
by  the  same  observations,  foretold  what 
were  called  moral  events,  such  as  the 
successes  and  reverses,  the  plenties  and 
famines,  of  nations  and  individuals. 
Egypt  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
home  of  astrology,  as  it  also 

In  Egypt. 

was  01  astronomy:   its  sway 
in  that  country  was  imperial. 

Among  the  Babylonians,  too,  astrolo- 
gy was  regarded,  in  matters  of  national 
welfare,  as  of  primal  importance.    Judi- 


Nineteenth  Century.  137 

cial  astrology  was  allowed  to  decide  in 
all  matters,  important  and  unimportant. 
Of  earlier  date  than  the  palmy 

In  Babylon. 

days  of  the  Babylonian  em- 
pire are  some  of  the  books  of  Babylon 
on  astrology,  —  books  that  were  extant 
in  the  days  of  Aristotle. 

In  Chaldsea  the  sway  of  this  science 
was  also  supreme.  Astrologers  formed 
the  highest  caste,  and  enjoyed 

In  Chaldsea. 

a  prominent  place  in  the 
royal  court.  No  house  could  be  built, 
no  journey  begun,  no  campaign  under- 
taken, until  the  astrological  diviners 
had  examined  the  stars,  and  discovered 
the  propitious  time. 

The  ancient  Persians,  no  less  than  the 
Egyptians  and  Chaldaeans,  also  sought 
the  supposed  aid  of  astrology.    Nothing 


138  The  Bible  and  the 

was  done  by  them  without   consulting 
the  stars.     The  journey  was 

In  Persia. 

commenced,  even  the  dress 
or  coat  was  put  on,  only  at  the  propi- 
tious astrological  juncture. 

Thus   also   was   it   with    the   Arabs. 

They     neither     sowed     nor 

In  Arabia. 

reaped,  undertook  expedi- 
tions, nor  engaged  in  business,  without 
consulting  the  stars. 

Throughout  Europe,  too,  the  fascina- 
tions of  astrology  are   found   for  cen- 
turies   well-nigh    bewitching 

tn  Europe. 

the  people.  During  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries,  astrol- 
ogy was  taught  in  the  universities  of 
Italy,  and  professors  of  astrology  were 
appointed  at  Padua  and  Bologna.  Cath- 
erine de  Medicis  of  France  allowed  no 


Nineteenth  Century.  139 

great  enterprise  to  be  undertaken  with- 
out consulting  and  following  the  dicta- 
tion of  the  stars.  During  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.,  and  also  that  of  Henry  IV., 
astrology  formed  at  court  the  engross- 
ing subject  of  ordinary  conversation. 
And,  says  D'Alembert,  "  There  is  hardly 
an  edifice  in  Constantinople  and  in  all 
Greece  that  has  not  been  erected  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  apotelesmatic 
astrology." 

Such  are  the  facts.  The  world  was 
filled  with  these  notions.  It  was  be- 
lieved and  taught,  out  of  the  schools 
and  in  the  schools,  that  man's  destinies 
were  controlled  by  the  stars ;  that  sue 
cesses  and  reverses,  national  and  indi- 
vidual, came  at  the  caprice  or  dictation 
of  those  heavenly  bodies.     It  was  popu 


140  The  Bible  and  the 

lar  to  hold  these  views :  it  was  popular 

to  teach  them.     With  these  astrological 

notions  the  Bible  writers  were  familiar. 

Those  Bible  men  must  have 

The  Bible 

writers  were    knowH  that  their  popularity 

familiar  with 

these  views,  would  have  been  enhanced 
adopted  ^^  ^hcj  had  adopted  the  pre- 
*''*"'•  vailing  beliefs  of  those  times. 

Had  Moses,  or  David,  or  Isaiah,  or 
John,  or  the  other  inspired  men,  intro- 
duced into  their  writings  the  astro- 
logical tables  and  maxims  in  vogue  in 
their  times,  it  would  have  given  a  caste 
and  currency  to  their  writings  not 
otherwise  attainable.  Of  this  they  must 
have  been  fully  aware.  There  were, 
therefore,  strong  temptations  to  yield 
to  these  popular  demands.  But  if  they 
had   yielded!     Indeed,   how  easily   in 


Nineteenth  Century.  141 

those  times  the  authority  of  the  Bible 
could  have  been  imperilled !  For  as- 
trology, in  intelligent  circles,  is  now 
laughed  at.  Modern  thought  has  writ- 
ten over  its  grave  this  epitaph :  "  Made 
up  of  the  greatest  possible  amount  of 
error,  mixed  with  the  least  possible 
amount  of  truth."  And,  too,  would  not 
tliat  have  been  the  epitaph  written  over 
the  Bible  had  it  taught  the  astrology 
and  astronomy  which  were  in  vogue 
when  it  was  compiled  and  authorized  ? 

But  the  fact  in  the  case  is,  that,  amid 
this  condition  of  things  extending  from 
the  days  of  Moses  a  long  way  past  the 
days  of  John  the  Apostle,  the  Bible 
was  not  astrological.  Indeed,  from  first 
to  last  it  was  emphatically  anti-astro- 
logical.    Is  not  this  dead  silence  re- 


142  The  Bible  and  the 

specting  the  star-theories  of  those  who 
were  contemporaries  with  the  men  whc 
wrote  the  Bible,  a  piece  of  very  weighty 
moral  evidence  that  in  its  origin  and 
composition  it  is  not  like  other  books  ? 
Its  voice  in  all  these  matters  is  modern 
rather  than  ancient?  But  why?  is  thG 
question  requiring  solution.  Its  teach- 
ings, as  every  reader  of  it  knows,  are 
uniform,  and  are  these :  Supernatural 
influences  in  national  and  individual 
aifairs  are  solely  in  the  hands  of  an  in- 
finite Being  "  who  makes  for  righteous- 
ness." "Dominion  and  fear  are  with 
him,  he  maketh  peace  in  his  high 
places.  Behold  even  to  the  moon,  and 
it  shineth  not ;  yea,  the  stars  are  not 
pure  in  his  sight "  (Job  xxv.  2,  5),  —  is 
the  voice  of  one  of  the  earliest  writingp? 


Nineteenth  Century.  143 

of  the  Bible  composed  in  Arabia ;  and 
"  To  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be 
glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power, 
both  now  and  ever.  Amen "  (Jude 
25),  —  is  the  response  that  came  from 
one  of  the  last  of  the  inspired  writers. 

But  let  us  advance  a  step  farther. 
Ancient  philosophers,  teachers,  and 
common  people  not  only  held  j^ng|e„t 
erroneous  views  as  to  astrolo-  *«tf»'»"">y' 
gy :  they  were  likewise  much  mistaken 
in  their  other  astronomical  opinions. 
The  following  grouping  will 

°    »         ^     °  The  earth! 

fully  establish  this  statement :  its  shape, 

foundation, 

Anaximenes    hekr    that    the  and  com- 
earth  is  shaped  like  a  table,  ^* 
and  Leucippus  said  that  it  has  the  form 
of  a  drum ;  but  every  child  now  knows 
that  its  shape  is  like  that  of  an  orange 


144  The  Bible  and  the 

or  an  apple.  Pindar  taught  that  the 
earth  rests  upon  columns  and  pillars  of 
adamant ;  and  other  ancient  writers 
maintained  that  it  rests  upon  the  back 
of  a  huge  tortoise,  which  in  turn  is 
supported  upon  the  coils  of  an  immense 
serpent.  Such  is  its  resting-place  (they 
seem  to  have  reasoned);  for,  if  not,  upon 
what  does  it  rest  ?  Most  men  appear  to 
have  been  silenced,  and  let  it  rest  there. 
There  were  still  other  teachers,  in  other 
countries,  who  advanced  the  theory  that 
the  earth  is  supported  upon  the  backs 
of  huge  elephants,  the  motion  of  whose 
heads  causes  earthquakes. 

Do  these  notions  seem  crude?  But 
we  miist  not  forget  that  those  were 
crude  ages,  in  which  mistakes  of  this 
kind  may  well  be  excused. 


Nineteenth  Century.  145 

Even  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Aristotle 
argued  that  the  earth  is  a  live  being : 
and  that  the  east,  whence  motion 
commences,  is  the  right,  and  the  west 
the  left  hand  of  our  world.  Even 
Christian  theologians  as  late  as  Gali- 
leo's time  taught  that  the  earth  is  sta- 
tionary ;  and  Augustine,  400  A.  D., 
declared  that  there  are  no  inhabitants 
on  the  nether  side  of  it.  A  different 
view  at  that  time  was  theological 
heresy.  What  would  be  thought  of  a 
teacher  in  our  day,  if  advancing  any  of 
these  views?  He  would  not  only  be 
dismissed  from  his  position,  but  his  in- 
sanity would  perhaps  be  argued  as  of 
an  incurable  type.  Philolaus  had  a 
theory  that  the  earth's  destruction  is 
to   come   about  by  the  waters   of  the 


146  The  Bible  and  the 

moon  being  poured  down  upon  it 
through  a  whirlpool  in  the  atmosphere. 
But  the  probabilities  are  that  the  moon 
has  not  so  much  as  a  cupful  of  watei 
with  which  to  cloud  its  sky,  to  say 
nothing  of  deluging  a  world. 

The  moon  in  its  composition,  accord* 
ing  to  Pharnaces,  is  "  wholly  a  mixture 
The  moon:       ^f  air   and  wild  fire."     But 

tion,  size, 

and  distance.  Hshed,  that  there  is  no  at- 
mosphere on  the  moon,  and,  further, 
that  its  fires  were  extinct  .thousands  of 
ages  ago,  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  noth* 
ing  but  a  burnt-out  slag.  Alarchus 
held  that  the  face  in  the  moon  is  a 
reflection  of  the  ocean  upon  our  earth. 
But  the  outlines  of  that  face  are  now 
known   to  be  the  shadows  cast  by  ita 


Nineteenth  Century.  147 

lofty  mountains  into  its  own  deep  cav- 
erns. Some  of  the  Stoics  declared  that 
the  moon  exceeds  in  magnitude  the 
earth ;  and  Anaximander  affirmed  that 
it  is  nineteen  times  larger  than  the 
earth,  being  a  circle  filled  with  fire  like 
the  sun.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
earth  in  volume  exceeds  the  moon  in 
the  proportion  of  ninety  to  one.  The 
shasters  of  India  tell  us  that  the  moon 
is  fifty  thousand  leagues  higher  up  than 
the  sun,  that  it  animates  our  bodies, 
and  shines  with  its  own  light.  But 
the  moon  does  not  shine  with  its  own 
light,  and,  instead  of  being  more  remote 
from  us  than  the  sun,  is  millions  of 
miles  nearer. 

Philolaus  held  that  the  sun  is  a  crys- 
tal whose  light  is  merely  a  reflection  of 


148  The  Bible  and  the 

the  light  of  the  earth.  But  no  one 
now  need  be  told  that  this  is  false,  inas- 
The  sun :  its    much  as  the  sun  is  a  globe  of 

character 

and  size.  fire  Sending  its  flames  a  hun- 
dred thousand  miles  up  from  its  surface. 
As  to  the  size  of  the  sun,  there  were 
many  conjectures.  Heraclitus  declared 
that  the  sun  is  no  larger  than  the 
breadth  of  a  man's  foot.  Epicurus  said 
that  he  embraced  all  the  opinions  that 
had  been  held  respecting  the  size  of  the 
sun ;  namely,  "  the  sun  may  be  of  a 
magnitude  as  it  appears,  or  it  may  be 
somewhat  greater,  or  somewhat  less." 
Anaxagoras  taught  that  the  sun  was 
made  from  a  mass  of  iron  somewhat 
larger  than  the  Peloponnesus,  and  the 
Peloponnesus  has  an  area  of  only  eight 
thousand   five   hundred    square    miles. 


Nineteenth  Century.  149 

Anaximander  was  quite  extravagant  for 
his  time ;  claiming  that  the  sun  is  twenty- 
eight  times  larger  than  the  earth,  having 
a  circumference  which  resembles  a  hol- 
low chariot-wheel  filled  with  fire.  But 
Parmenides  opposed  this  view,  insisting 
that  the  sun  is  only  about  the  size  of 
the  earth.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
the  sun  is  not  like  a  chariot-wheel,  and 
in  volume  exceeds  the  earth  in  the  pro- 
portion of  one  million  four  hundred 
thousand,  to  one. 

As  to  the  composition  of  the  stars, 
there  were  various  conflicting  opinions. 
Diogenes  thought    that    the 

The  stars. 

stars  resemble  pumice-stones, 
and  that  they  are  the  breathings  of  the 
world.    Philolaus  of  Crotona  contended 
that  the  stars  are  made  of  crystal  much 


150  The  Bible  and  tU 

purer  than  diamonds.  Plato  thought 
that  the  stars  are  of  a  fiery  nature, 
mixed  with  something  resembling  glue. 
Zenophanes  taught  that  the  stars  are 
composed  of  inflamed  clouds,  which  are 
kindled  at  night,  but  quenched  during 
the  day.  Anaximenes  said  that  they  are 
fastened  as  nails  in  the  crystalline  firma- 
ment. Others,  says  Plutarch,  taught 
that  the  stars  are  fiery  plates  of  gold,  re- 
sembling pictures.  Heraclitus  and  some 
of  the  Stoics  held  that  the  stars  depend 
for  their  illumination  upon  exhalations 
from  damp  places  on  the  earth.  The 
ancient  Persians  taught  that  the  stars 
are  the  gods  of  the  universe. 

By  some  of  the  philosophers 

Comets.  ,  . 

m  early  times,  it  was  main- 
tained that  comets  are  the  souls  of  good 


Nineteenth  Century.  151 

men  on  their  way  to   heaven  ;   others 
said  that  they  are  angels  escorting  right- 
eous souls  to  places  of  rest.     And  sev- 
eral of  the  Pythagorean  philos-  ^^^  j„,jj.y 
ophers  taught  that  the  Milky  ^''^' 
Way  is  an  old  disused  path  of  the  sun. 
Thus   also  there  were  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  the  number  and  distances 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.   Some  Number  and 

distances  of 

of  the  ancients  tliought  that  the  stars. 

there  are  about  a  thousand  stars.    Even 

Hipparchus  and  Ptolemy  never  hinted 

at  their  incalculable  number. 

Hesiod  affirmed  that  it  would  take  a 

brazen  anvil  nine  days  to  pass  from  the 

stars  to  the  earth,  and  nine  days  to  go 

from  the  earth  to  the  infernal  regions. 

Therefore,  according  to   this   estimate, 

only  eighteen  days  would  be  required  to 
11 


152  The  Bible  and  the 

travel  the  spaces  occupied  by  the  side- 
real heavens.  But  the  fact  is,  that 
even  light  itself,  moving  at  the  rate  of 
nearly  two  hundred  thousand  miles  per 
second,  cannot  travel  those  sidereal 
spaces  in  a  million  ages. 

But  in  this  review  of  ancient  specu- 
lations, we  must  pause.  As  every  child 
knows,  they  are  utterly  false.  Still,  as 
already  suggested,  those  men  must  not 
be  over-much  condemned.  They  theo- 
rized as  best  they  could  with  the  light 
they  had.  The  earth  does  appear  to 
be  shaped  like  a  table ;  and  seemingly 
it  must  rest  upon  something,  —  either 
pillars,  tortoises,  serpents,  or  elephants. 
The  moon  really  seems  farther  away 
than  the  snn,  and  apparently  shines 
with  its  own  light.     The  sun  does  not 


Nineteenth  Century.  153 

seem  larger  than  the  estimates  given  by 
the  ancients,  and  on  the  clearest  nights 
the  unaided  eye  can  count  only  a  few 
more  than  a  thousand  stars.  The 
Milky  Way  can  easily  be  imagined  to  be 
a  disused  path  of  the  sun,  and  comets 
with  their  flowing  robes  might  well  be 
thought  to  be  escorting  angels. 

Now,  while  casting  no  reflections  up- 
on  ancient  philosophers,  we  certainly 
have  a  right  to  ask  how  it  why  did  not 
chanced  that  Moses,  instead  b^":!*"^"-"*"- s 

make  similar 

of  limiting  the  stars  to  a  statements  i 
thousand,  hints  that  their  number  is 
innumerable  (Gen.  xv.  5).  How,  too, 
did  it  chance  that  Job  did  not  propose 
serpents,  elephants,  tortoises,  or  some- 
thing of  the  sort,  for  the  earth's  founda- 
tions ;  instead  of  declaring,  in  that  age 


154  The  Bible  and  the 


of  scientific  ignorance  and  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  statements  and  specula- 
tions of  his  time,  that  it  is  God  who 
stretcheth  out  the  north  over  the  empty 
place,  and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  noth- 
ing (Job  xxvi.  7),  —  precisely  where 
modern  science  hangs  it? 

Or,  vary  the  form  of  these  questions. 
What  if  Isaiah,  in  his  supposed  inspired 
utterances,  had  said  that  the  sun  is  in 
size  equal  to  the  Peloponnesus,  that  it 
is  shaped  like  a  chariot-wheel,  and  that 
in  eighteen  days  a  brazen  anvil  can  pass 
the  stellar  spaces?  And,  if  he  com- 
posed his  writings  as  other  men  com- 
pose theirs,  why  was  he  not  liable  to 
these  or  similar  utterances  ?  Or,  what 
if  the  Apostle  Peter,  instead  of  saying 
that  fire,  with  great  noise  and  melting 


Nineteenth  Centurg.  155 

elements  (2  Pet.  iii.  10-12),  is  to  be, 
as  modern  science  hints,  "  the  dread 
communist  of  the  universe,"  had  said 
that  the  earth  is  to  be  destroyed  by  the 
waters  of  the  moon  poured  down  upon  it 
through  a  whirlpool  in  its  atmosphere  ? 
These  mistaken  opinions  were  common 
talk  among  the  people  living  when  and 
where  this  Bible  was  written.  What 
was  it,  therefore,  that  guarded  its  writers 
and  compilers  against  introducing  into 
it  these  errors,  almost  any  one  of  which 
would  now  be  appalling  to  those  who 
regard  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God? 
Bear  in  mind,  at  this  point,  that 
these  various  disclosures  of  the  Bible 
were  placed  on  record  at  a  time  when 
even  the  names  of  some  of  the  modern 
sciences  had  not  been  spoken.     Chem- 


156  The  Bible  and  the 

istry,  geology,  and  mineralogy  were 
hardly  born  before  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century ;  and  astronomy  has 
widened  immensely  the  fields  of  her 
conquests  within  the  last  three-quarters 
of  a  century. 

It  is  only  a  little  over  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  since  the  Ptolemaic  theory 

—  the  theory  that  the  earth  is  in  the 
centre,  and  that  the  sun  moves  about  it 

—  was  taught  in  so  respectable  an  insti- 
tution as  Yale  College.  Any  alteration, 
therefore,  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
text  of  the  Bible  to  suit  the  late  dis- 
coveries of  modern  science,  as  was  for 
a  time  claimed  by  a  few  unscholarly 
minds,  has  been  rendered  impossible. 
Now,  in  view  of  all  these  facts,  can  any 
man,   in   his    reason,   decide   that   this 


Nineteenth  Century.  157 

Bible,  freely  referring  as  it  does  to  the 
various  phenomena  of  the  physical  uni- 
verse, could  have  escaped  all  these 
errors  of  ancient  writers  and  philoso- 
phers, provided  there  were  no  super- 
natural influences  controlling  the  minds 
of  those  who  wrote  and  compiled  it? 

But  we  have  not  yet  completed  this 
part  of  our  subject.  There  are  scien- 
tific thoughts  in  the  depart-  other  impor- 
ment  of  astronomy  expressed  Jj^^n/^j^the 
in  the  Bible,  which  seem  far,  ^''''** 
very  far,  beyond  the  possible  ken  of 
those  who  wrote  them.  The  writer  of 
the  Book  of  Job  speaks,  for  instance, 
of  the  loosing  of  the  bands  of  Orion 
(Job  xxxviii.  31).  Until  recently  there 
was  no  intelligent  interpretation  for 
that  passage.      But  astronomers  have 


158  The  Bible  and  the 

discovered  of  late  the  almost  startling 
fact,  that  our  planetary  system  is  slowly 
drifting  away  from  the  constellation  in 
which  Orion  is  chief.  Does  some  one 
reply  that  this  Bible  expression  is 
merely  a  poetic  fancy  ?  Admit  it. 
But  what  explanation  can  be  given 
for  the  wonderful  scientific  accuracy  of 
such  a  poetic  fancy  ?  Why  were  not 
Homer  and  Virgil  equally  correct  in 
their  fancies?  This  same  Bible-writer 
also  speaks  of  an  empty  place  in  the 
north  (Job  xxvi.  7).  Poetic,  is  it  said? 
Doubtless  it  is  poetic,  and  perhaps  the 
writer  did  not  understand  the  full  im- 
port of  his  words  :  but  what  is  singular 
is  the  fact,  that  this  expression,  written 
in  an  age  when  errors  in  science  every- 
where prevailed,  is,  in  the  light  of  mod- 


Nineteenth  Century.  159 

ern  discovery,  a  marvel  of  scientific 
accuracy  ;  for  modern  astronomers  now 
tell  us  that  the  only  space  in  the  stellar 
lieavens  of  our  hemisphere  where  the 
telescope  can  discover  no  stars  is  not  east 
or  west,  but  nortli. 

In  view  of  these  and  many  other 
Scriptural  statements,  need  there  be 
any  surprise  that  the  illustrious  astrono- 
mer Sir  John  Herschel  was  led,  in  the 
rapture  of  his  admiration  for  the  Bible, 
to  exclaim,  "  All  human  discoveries 
seem  to  be  made  only  for  the  purpose 
of  confirming  more  and  more  strongly 
the  truths  contained  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures "  ? 

And  it  is  our  own  late  and  honored 
astronomer.  Gen.  O.  M.  Mitchel,  who 
after    passing    in    imagination    beyond 


160  The  Bible  and  the 

suns  and  systems  towering  on  the  right 
hand  and  on  the  left,  and  with  thoughts 
expanded  and  aglow  with  sublimities, 
and  struggling  for  expression,  in  a  pas- 
sage of  rare  beauty,  exclaims,  "  Let  us 
turn  to  the  language  of  the  Bible  :  it 
furnishes  the  only  fitting  vehicle  to 
express  the  thoughts  which  overwhelm 
us,  and  we  break  out  involuntarily  in 
the  language  of  God's  own  inspiration, 
'  Have  ye  not  known,  hath  it  not  been 
told  you  from  the  beginning,  have  ye 
not  understood  from  the  foundation  of 
the  earth?  It  is  he  who  sitteth  upon 
the  circle  of  the  earth,  that  stretcheth 
out  the  heavens  as  a  curtain,  and 
spreadeth  them  out  as  a  tent  to  dwell 
in.  Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high,  and  be- 
hold who  hath  created  all  these  things, 


Nineteenth  Century.  161 

that  bringeth  out  their  host  by  number? 
It  is  he  who  meted  out  the  heavens 
with  a  span,  and  comprehended  the 
dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and 
weighed  the  mountains  in  scales  and 
the  hills  in  balances.  It  is  he  who 
stretcheth  out  the  north  over  the  empty 
place,  and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  noth- 
ing. By  his  spirit  he  hath  garnished 
the  heavens.  He  telleth  the  number  of 
the  stars.  He  calleth  them  all  by  their 
names.  He  commandeth  the  sun,  and 
it  riseth  not,  and  sealeth  up  the  stars. 
He  bindeth  the  sweet  influences  of  the 
Pleiades,  and  looseth  the  bands  of 
Orion.  He  bringeth  forth  Mazzarpth  in 
his  season,  and  guideth  Arcturus  with 
his  sons.  Lo  !  these  are  a  part  of  his 
ways ;   but   the  thunder  of  his  power, 


162  The  Bible  and  the 

who  can  understand  ? ' "  We  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  these  closing  sen- 
tences qnoted  from  the  Book  of  Job,  in 
scientific  accuracy  and  in  poetic  graad- 
eur,  even  under  the  intense  bhize  of 
the  culture  and  civilization  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  are  unequalled  by  any 
page  from  the  pen  of  any  sceptic  who 
has  ever  assailed  the  blessed  Book, 
and  will  survive  when  every  thing 
scepticism  has  produced  which  is  not  in 
harmony  with  its  revelations  shall  have 
sunk  forever  into  the  depths  of  oblivion. 


What  remains  to  be  said  may  be 
classed  under  morality  and  religion. 
We  have  reserved  these  topics  for  the 
last,  because  there  is  no  question  that 


Nineteenth  Century.  163 

the  Bible  in  its  entirety  is  designed 
chiefly  to  teach  religion,  and  that  in 
some  of  its  parts  its  chief  de-  TiieBiWe; 

its  morals 

sign  is  to  teach  morality,  and  religion. 
Hence,  if  in  these  matters  of  morality 
and  religion  the  Bible  standard  is  not 
high  and  royal,  even  superior  to  all  else 
found  in  ancient  literature,  Ave  may  well 
question  its  authority,  and  its  claims  of 
having  been  written  and  compiled  by 
men  who  in  their  work  were  controlled 
by  supernatural  influences. 

Comparisons  between  the  teachings 
of  the  Bible  and  those  of  other  ancient 
literature,  upon   the   subject  comparisons 

c  1        £      i-       1    •  i-i  between  BI- 

of  morals,  first  claim  atten-  ^le  teachings 
tion.      We   presume    at    the  *»*  those  of 

••^  other  ancient 

outset  that  no  intelligent  per-  literature. 
son  will  question  this  statement,  that  if 


164  The  Bible  and  the 

some  of  the  sayings  of  the  great  men  of 
antiquity  —  such  men  as  Zeno,  Aris- 
totle, Quintilian,  and  even  Plato — were 
put  in  practice,  society  would  be  robbed 
of  its  moral  safeguards,  and  be  led  into 
speedy  and  universal  mischiefs.  Nor  can 
any  one  doubt,  that  if  the  immoralities 
practised  by  the  Egyptians,  Babylonians, 
Assyrians,  and  by  the  peoples  of  India 
and  China,  and  by  those  dwelling  in 
Western  Europe  prior  to  the  advent  of 
Christianity,  —  immoralities  in  some  in- 
stances authorized  by  law  and  recom- 
mended by  the  distinguished  teachers  of 
the  people,  —  were  in  our  Republic  sanc- 
tioned by  law  or  by  the  customs  of  so- 
ciety, there  would  be  an  end  to  chastity, 
homes  would  be  robbed  of  their  charms, 
and  our  country  be  no  longer  fit  to  live  in. 


JVineteenth  Century.  165 


We  do  not  say  that  all  the  maxims 
and  teachings  of  all  those  distinguished 
men  were  of  this  degrading  and  danger- 
ous character.  There  are,  in  the  writ- 
ings of  some  of  those  men,  noble  sayings 
that  commend  themselves  to  modern 
thought ;  some,  indeed,  which  are  in 
every  way  superior  to  the  teachings  of 
certain  noted  men  who  have  enjoyed 
the  blessings  of  the  highest  recent  civili- 
zation. Those  ancient  so-called  Pagan 
hunters  after  truth  found  data  in  their 
consciousness  to  which,  in  many  in- 
stances, they  were  faithful :  they  gleaned 
some  facts  from  observation,  and  not  a 
few  thoughts  from  the  religious  writings 
of  the  Israelites  both  before  and  after 
those  writings  were  compiled  into  the 
Bible,  —  thoughts    which    were    recast. 


1G6  The  Bible  and  the 

and  have  since  passed,  in  more  than 
one  instance,  for  gems  of  originality 
in  Pagan  literature.  This  is,  perhaps, 
especially  true  of  many  of  the  sayings 
of  Seneca  and  Epictetus,  who,  though 
they  may  not  have  seen  and  conversed 
with  either  of  the  apostles,  could  not 
have  failed  of  deriving  ethical  notions,  at 
least  indirectly,  from  Christian  sources. 
Seneca  was  Nero's  tutor,  and  prime 
minister  at  the  emperor's  court ;  and 
Epictetus  was  a  slave  of  a  prominent 
freedman  of  the  empire.  It  is,  there- 
fore, highly  improbable  that  they 
were  not  at  times  brought  under  the 
"  word-fall  of  Christian  lips."  But  not- 
withstanding all  these  excellences,  ori- 
ginal and  borrowed,  ancient  writers 
upon  ethical  subjects  were  as  a  rule, 


Nineteenth  Century.  167 

and  in  a  high  degree,  defective.  In- 
deed, we  may  safely  say,  that,  if  a  few 
of  the  many  false  teachings  found  in  the 
best  ancient  classical  literature  had  been 
introduced  into  the  Bible,  there  would 
be  forever,  in  questions  of  moral  life 
and  character,  an  end  to  its  authority. 

We  are  not  unacquainted  with  a  re- 
cent claim  that  has  been  urged,  namely, 
that  the  morality  of  some  unfaToraWe 
Pagan  countries  is,  in  cer-  «'""*«'i8«»- 
tain  respects,  superior  to  that  of  Chris- 
tian countries.  Japan,  for  instance,  is 
referred  to  as  comparing  favorably  with 
countries  under  the  sway  of  Bible  mo- 
rality. 

We  freely  confess  that  much  which 

has  been  said  upon  this   subject   has 

truth  in  it.     But  this   is  the   countet 
12 


168  The  Bible  and  the 

claim,  that  if  the  morals  of  Japan  in 
certain  respects  are  superior  to  those, 
for  instance,  of  England,  it  will  be 
found  that  in  those  very  respects  Japan 
is  more  biblical  than  is  England.  The 
Bible,  even  in  these  instances,  is  recog- 
nized as  the  standard  authority. 

We  are  aware,  too,  that  now  and 
then  a  person  is  found  who  affirms,  out 
and  out,  that  biblical  as  well  as  Pagan 
morality  tends  to  immorality.  This 
charge  is  always,  or  nearly  always, 
based  upon  the  ground  that  certain 
corrupt  practices  are,  "  with  no  prudent 
reticence,"  brought  to  our  notice  in  the 
Bible. 

It  is  true  that  the  Bible  uses  great 
plainness  of  speech,  and  conceals  noth- 

ifig-    Xbe  Qi4.  T^stgatteat  do§s  Qot  pje- 


Nineteenth  Century.  169 

tend  to  be  "  an  idyl  of  innocence : "  it 
is  rather  an  illustrated  demonstration  of 
what  the  sins  of  humanity  are,  and  of 
the  direful  consequences  of  sin.  There- 
fore it  speaks  of  men  as  it  finds  them. 
If  they  have  faults,  it  faithfully  de- 
scribes them.  How  could  its  designs 
be  accomplished  without  doing  this? 
If  the  instructions  of  the  Bible  had 
been  given  in  the  abstract  rather  than 
in  the  concrete,  and  if  all  the  characters 
portrayed  in  the  Bible  had  been  repre- 
sented as  spotless ;  if  Abraham  had 
never  falsified,  if  Jacob  had  never  de- 
ceived, if  David  had  never  sinned,  if 
Solomon  had  never  acted  unwisely,  and 
if  Peter  had  not  denied  his  Master ;  in 
a  word,  if  Bible  men,  in  a  general  way, 
had  been  represented  as  having  no  im- 


170  The  Bible  and  the 

perfections,  —  then  how  much  less  for- 
cible would  be  Bible  instructions,  and 
how  great  would  be  the  outcry  from 
the  infidel  world !  It  would  be  forth- 
with announced  that  Bible  history  is  a 
fiction,  and  not  a  fact. 

This,  however,  must  ever  be  kept  in 
mind :  that  the  Bible  never  for  an  in- 
stant, by  sentence,  word,  or  intimation, 
approves  any  form  of  immorality  re- 
corded upon  its  pages.  When  the  patri- 
archs transgressed,  God  in  every  in- 
stance reproved  or  punished  them. 
"  The  thing  which  David  did  was  dis- 
pleasing to  the  Lord,"  is  the  entire  drift 
of  its  rebuke  of  sin  and  iniquity. 

We  are  also  aware  that  it  is  some- 
times argued,  in  modern  times,  that  the 
rigorous  measures  enjoined  in  the  Bible 


Nineteenth  Century.  \J\ 

against  the  people  of  Canaan,  upon  the 
return  of  the  Israelites  from   The  rigorous 
Egypt,  are  in  their  moral  in-  enjoined  in 
fluence   harmful;    that   they   *''*,^?'l 

'  •/     against  the 

"  make  out  God  to  be  a  very  c*n«anite8. 

monster  of  cruelty ; "  that,  as  to  this 
feature,  the  Old  Testament  is  at  war 
with  the  New. 

In  passing  judgment  upon  these  mat- 
ters, one  thing  must  not  be  overlooked ; 
namely,  that  God  builds  for  all  time,  — 
for  eternity.  Our  range  of  vision, 
therefore,  if  we  become  self-appointed 
judges,  must  not  be  narrow.  If  our 
views  are  not  captious,  and  are  as 
broad  as  the  subject  demands,  we  shall 
easily  discover  that  the  spirit  of  the 
Old  Testament  is  not,  as  some  persons 
seem  to  think,  entirely  unlike  that  of 


172  The  Bible  and  the 

the  New.  The  severest  denunciations 
found  in  the  Bible  are  from  the  lips  of 
Christ  (Matt,  xxiii.  13-33). 

We  shall  also  make  the  discovery, 
that  the  Divine  method  as  seen  in  the 
Bible  is  the  same  as  is  discovered  in 
providence  ;  and  is  therefore  to  be  jus- 
tified upon  the  ground  of  necessity  in 
the  nature  of  things,  or  possibly  in 
view  of  the  attainment  of  a  greater 
good.  There  is  an  old  saying,  rough 
but  forcible,  which  reads  thus :  — 

"  God  himself  must  be  strong  as  well 
as  good,  or  the  Devil  will  shortly  have 
the  upper  hand."  The  one  attribute  of 
good-naturedness  can  never  constitute 
a  God ;  at  least,  does  not  constitute  the 
God  whom  creation  and  providence  as 
well  as  the  Bible  reveal. 


Nineteenth  Century.  173 

Tliat  great  law  of  science,  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,  though  often  mis- 
applied in  modern  philosophy,  is  simply 
an  expression  of  what  the  Infinite  Being 
is  disposed  to  do,  and  has  been  doing 
through  the  ages.  That  law  will  for- 
ever stamp  its  approval  upon  the  com- 
mand of  Jehovah  to  Joshua  to  destroy 
the  unfit,  savage,  and  murderous  Ca- 
naanites,  who,  but  for  their  extirpation, 
would  have  destroyed  the  Israelites,  to 
whom,  as  it  appears,  had  been  intrusted 
the  truths  upon  which  is  based  the  reli^ 
gious  civilization  of  the  world.  The 
methods  resorted  to  for  their  destruction 
needed  also  to  be  such  as  to  strike  terror 
to  the  hearts  of  all  the  surrounding  tribes. 

The  point  of  view  occupied  by 
Tennyson  when  he  wrote  the  following 


174  The  Bible  and  the 

words  is  the  one  to  be  taken  whiii 
judging  of  the  rigorous  measures  rec 
ommended  in  the  Old  Testament:  — 

"  '  So  careful  of  the  type  ? '  but  no. 

From  scarped  cliif  and  quarried  stone, 
She  cries,  '  A  thousand  types  are  gone  : 
I  care  for  nothing,  all  shall  go.'  " 

If,  therefore,  the  ways  of  Providence, 
in  building  the  "scarped  cliff"  and  the 
"quarried  stone,"  care  nothing  for  the 
species  or  even  for  the  genus,  how  much 
less  care  shall  there  be  for  the  Amorite 
and  the  Hittite  when  standing  in  the 
way  of  building  for  the  world  a  uni- 
versal civilization  and  religion  ? 

"  But,"  some  one  asks,  "  shall  evil  be 
done,  that  good  may  come  ?  "  Yes,  so 
far  as  this  question  is  justified  in  the 
matter  before  us.     Implacable  enemies 


Nineteenth  Century.  175 

of  righteousness,  even  at  any  cost,  are 
to  be  prevented  from  carrying  out  their 
wicked  designs  and  from  hindering 
progress.  It  is  this  principle  that  leads 
modern  society  to  build  prisons,  and  put 
men  into  them  ;  to  erect  a  gallows,  and 
hang  men  upon  it.  Such  prevention  and 
death  are  no  evil:  they  are  rather  an 
exalted  good  and  mercy  working  in 
behalf  of  the  well-disposed. 

The  imprecations  in  some  of  the 
Psalms  of  David  are  also  said  not  to 
breathe  the  spirit  of  the  Gos-  impreca- 

tions  in  the 

pel,  and  to  be  harmful  in  Psaims. 
their  moral  influence.  No  one,  unless 
his  range  of  view  is  narrow,  would  pass 
such  a  judgment.  A  careful  study  of 
the  character  of  David  and  of  the  so- 
called  harsh  Psalms  will  disclose   the 


176  The  Bible  and  the 

fact  that  in  no  instance  is  vengeance 
jailed  down  upon  personal  enemies. 
The  imprecations  are  uttered  solely 
against  seditious  spirits  and  public 
foes.  David  was  forgiving  and  mag- 
nanimous to  his  personal  enemies ;  no 
king  or  commander  ever  more  so.  In 
some  instances  he  mourned  over  the 
death  and  misfortunes  of  his  enemies  as 
if  they  had  been  those  of  a  friend. 
The  entire  spirit  of  David's  administra- 
tion shows,  too,  that  in  his  war  upon 
the  cruel  and  outlawed  Amorites,  and 
in  his  advice  to  Solomon  as  to  Shimei 
and  Joab,  he  was  not  prompted  by  per- 
sonal vindictiveness,  but  by  considera- 
tions of  public  safety. 

The  case  of  Joab  may  be  taken  as 
illustrative  of  this  statement.    Joab  was 


Nineteenth  Century.  177 

a  nephew  of  David.  He  was  a  bold 
soldier,  and  in  his  successes  was  the 
Marlborough  of  the   Jewish  David'gcom- 

mand  to  exe- 

empire.  But  his  disposition  euteJoab. 
was  thoroughly  bad.  His  spirit  of  re- 
venge was  implacable.  He  treach- 
erously, and  out  of  pure  revenge, 
assassinated  Abner.  He  also  treach- 
erously murdered  Amasa.  With  ap- 
parently a  friendly  whisper  upon  his 
lips,  he  had  killed  the  one  of  these  two 
men  ;  and  the  other,  while  imparting  a 
kiss  upon  the  cheek  of  his  victim  at  the 
very  moment  of  assassination.  Joab 
was  not  only  sly  and  malignan^t,  but  he 
was  bold.  He  was  brave,  he  was  de- 
fiant. He  could  almost  say  with  the 
great  politician  in  the  time  of  Edward 
II.,  "  I  can  make  and  unmake  kings." 


178  The  Bible  and  the 

Though  for  the  most  part  obedient 
in  times  of  war,  David  foresaw  that 
this  wild,  ambitious,  restless,  implaca- 
ble, and  revengeful  spirit  would  be  ut- 
terly unsafe  in  times  of  peace.  Upon 
the  ground,  therefore,  of  political  expe- 
diency, David  enjoined  upon  the  young 
king  the  arrest  and  execution  of  this 
dangerous  man. 

But  aside  from  the  records  of  the 
falls  and  crimes  of  certain  illustrious 
Bible  men,  —  whose  chastisements  and 
poignant  repentances  are  likewise  re- 
corded,—  and  aside  from  some  of  these 
The  Bible  the  figorous  measures  rendered 
mTnioraf  ucccssary  upon  the  grounds 
science.  gf  political  and  military  ne- 

cessity, not  one  word  can  be  spoken 
against  Bible  morality.     It  is  the  great 


Nineteenth  Century.  179 

text-book  upon  moral  science.  The 
profoundest  modern  moral  philosophers 
never  think  of  deviating  from  its  teach- 
ing. Matthew  Arnold  states  the  case 
forcibly :  — 

"Try  all  the  ways  to  righteousness 
you  can  think  of,  and  you  will  find 
that  no  way  brings  you  to  it  except  the 
way  of  Jesus.  .  .  .  Attempt  to  do  with- 
out Israel's  God  that  makes  for  right- 
eousness, and  you  will  find  out  your 
mistake  !  .  .  .  Attempt  to  reach  right- 
eousness by  any  way  except  that  of  Jesus^ 
and  you  will  also  find  out  your  mistake ! 
This  is  a  thing  that  can  prove  itself  if 
it  is  so,  and  it  will  prove  itself  because 
it  is  so." 

And,  too,  the  uncompromising  and 
Bolemn    manner    in  which    the    Bible 


180  The  Bible  and  the 

always  enforces  its  claims  of  morality 
is  in  many  respects  exceptional  in  the 
world's  literature.  "  Know  ye  not  that 
the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God  ?  Be  not  deceived : 
neither  fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor 
adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers 
of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves, 
nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  re- 
vilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the 
kingdom  of  God"  (1  Cor.  vi.  9,  10); 
and,  "Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill 
of  the  Lord?  or  who  shall  stand  in 
his  holy  place?  He  that  hath  clean 
hands,  and  a  pure  heart;  who  hath 
not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity,  nor 
sworn  deceitfully.  He  shall  receive 
the  blessing  from  the  Lord,  and  right- 
eouBuess  from   the   God  of  his  salvar 


Nineteenth  Century.  181 

tion "  (Ps.  xxiv.  3-5),  —  are  words 
never  heard  until  spoken  aod  written 
by  Bible  men. 

At  this  point,  advocates  of  Bible 
morality  are  met  by  a  somewhat  unex- 
pected cross-fire ;  that  is,  a  objcctioM 
few  persons  readily  admit-  of  Mbfe"*' 
ting  that  in  many  respects  ""'■■^"y* 
the  character  of  Bible  morality  is  excep- 
tional, have,  upon  this  very  ground, 
pronounced  against  it.  With  Aristotle 
(who  must  have  spoken  in  an  unguard- 
ed moment)  they  say,  "  When  you  can 
have  a  good  thing,  take  it ; "  and  with 
the  Spartans  they  will  add,  "Be  sure 
you  are  not  found  out."  With  Quin- 
tiliajB  (who  also  must  have  spoken 
in  OrR  unguarded  moment)  they  say, 
"  Truth,  though  gejjerajly,  is  oot  always 


182  The  Bible  and  the 

defended."  With  David  Hume  they  rea- 
son, that  though  adultery  is  condemned 
in  the  Bible,  it  must  be  practised  if  men 
would  obtain  the  highest  advantages  of 
human  life.  And  with  Mr.  Buckle 
they  reason,  that  so-called  crimes  are  a 
part  of  the  fixed  course  of  nature,  as 
really  so,  though  not  so  apparently,  as 
the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides ;  that  cer- 
tain natural  causes,  acting  upon  men 
as  surely  as  the  moon  upon  the  ocean, 
produce  in  them  certain  conditions, 
from  which  some  particular  form  of 
crime  is  the  invariable  result ;  that 
men  are,  therefore,  not  responsible  for 
the  crimes  they  commit. 

We  cannot,  of  course,  reason  much 
with  such  foes  of  morality  and  chastity : 
we   can   only   appeal   to  the  common- 


Nineteenth  Century.  183 

sense  of  the  great  mass  of  the  best  peo- 
ple in  our  best  communities,  who  hold 
these  lax  and  unscriptural  views  of 
morals  in  utter  detestation  ;  and  to  the 
world's  history,  whose  pages  are  a  sol- 
emn warning  against  any  departure 
from  the  Bible  standard  of  ethical  con- 
duct. 

Take,  for  example,  the  times  fol- 
lowing the  restoration  of  Charles  II. 
In  the  re-action  from  Puri-  Besnits  of  n 

,  1      •  i         ii  1         i>    abandonment 

tan  austerity,  the  morals  oi  ofBibiemo- 

Christianity  were  discarded,  e*"*;;'^^;^ 

The    results    are    too    well  ^'ra^ce- 

known  to  justify  a  full  rehearsal.     A 

word  only  is  necessary.     "  Then,"  says 

the  historian,  "  came  those  days,  never 

to  be  recalled  without  shame  ;  the  days 

of  servitude  without  loyalty,  and  sensu- 
13 


184  The  Bible  and  the 

ality  without  love,  of  dwarfish  talents 
and  gigantic  vices ;  the  paradise  of  cold 
hearts  and  narrow  minds ;  the  golden 
age  of  the  coward,  the  bigot,  and  the 
slave." 

In  France,-  too,  in  a  re-action  against 
priestcraft,  the  altars  of  Christianity 
were  demolished,  and  Bible  morality 
was  despised.  The  results  are  well 
known.  Then  followed  the  "carnival 
of  crime  "  and  "  reign  of  terror." 

"We  are  the  only  people  in  the 
world,"  writes  a  journalist  of  that  time, 
"who  ever  attempted  to  do  without 
religion.  But  what  is  already  our  sad 
experience?  Every  tenth  day  [the 
sabbath  of  the  infidels]  we  are  as- 
tounded by  the  recital  of  more  crimes 
and  assassinations  than  were  committed 


Nineteenth  Century.  185 

formerly  in  a  whole  year.  At  the  risk 
of  speaking  an  obsolete  language,  and 
receiving  insult  for  response,  we  de^ 
clare  that  we  must  cease  striving  to 
destroy  the  remnants  of  religion,  if  we 
desire  to  prevent  the  entire  dissolution 
of  society." 

Disraeli,  after  making  a  broad  survey 
of  peoples  and  countries,  reaches  a  con- 
clusion which  is  thus  stated :  — 

"  It  will  be  observed  that  the  decline 
and  disasters  in  modern  communities 
have  generally  been  relative  to  their 
degree  of  sedition  against  the  Semitic 
(the  Old-Testament)  principle.  Eng- 
land, notwithstanding  her  deficient  and 
meagre  theology,  has  always  remem- 
bered Zion.  The  great  trans-Atlantic 
Republic,  the  United  States  of  America, 


186  The  Bible  and  the 

is  intensely  Semitic,  and  has  prospered 
accordingly." 

It  is  in  view  of  a  solid  array  of  facts, 
that  even  sceptics  who  are  intelligent 
Bible  moral,  and  not  copiupt  hail  the 
even'bymeii  Bible  as  the  beacon-light  of 
In  some         ^j^^  ^^^.^^  world.     No  higher 

respects  o 

sceptics.  words  of  Commendation  of 
the  moral  purity  and  superiority  of 
the  Bible  have  been  spoken  than  those 
which  have  fallen  from  the  lips  of  Na- 
poleon, Rousseau,  Diderot,  Goethe, 
Huxley,  and  Theodore  Parker.  Says 
lfc*rofessor  Huxley,  in  an  address  upon 
education,  "  I  have  always  been 
strongly  in  favor  of  secular  education, 
in  the  sense  of  education  without  the- 
ology; but  I  must  confess,  I  have  been 
no  less  seriously  perplexed  to  know  by 


Nineteenth  Century.  187 

what  practical  measures  the  religious 
feeling,  which  is  the  essential  basis  of 
conduct,  was  to  be  kept  up,  in  the  pres- 
ent utterly  chaotic  state  of  opinion  on 
these  matters,  without  the  use  of  the 
Bible.  The  Pagan  moralists  lack  life 
and  color ;  and  even  the  noble  Stoic, 
Marcus  Antoninus,  is  too  high  and  re- 
fined for  an  ordinary  child.  Take  the 
Bible  as  a  whole ;  make  the  severest  de- 
ductions which  fair  criticism  can  dictate : 
and  there  still  remains  in  this  old  litera- 
ture a  vast  residuum  of  moral  beauty 
and  grandeur.  By  the  study  of  what 
other  book  could  children  be  so  much 
humanized  ?  If  Bible-reading  is  not  ac-> 
companied  by  constraint  and  solemnity, 
I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  thing  in 
which  children  take  more  pleasure." 


188  The  Bible  and  the 

Would  not  those  who  object  to  Bible 
morality  do  well  carefully  to  weigh 
these  words,  coming  from  such  an  im- 
partial witness  as  Professor  Huxley  ? 

The  fact  is,  that,  in  spite  of  all  the 
small  talk  of  sceptics,  the  lustre  of 
Bible  morality  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury remains  undimmed.  Far,  far 
above  the  fogs  and  mists  with  which 
immoral  men  and  women,  English  free- 
thinkers, German  free-livers,  and  Ameri- 
can free-lovers,  have  sought  to  fill  the 
sky,  Bible  morality  stands  unrebuked 
and  unchallenged ;  indeed,  it  never 
stood  out  so  perfeetl}'  clear,  serene,  and 
triumphant  as  at  this  very  day. 

At  this  point,  the  substance  of  the 
question  repeatedly  asked  recurs,  and 
is  this :  How  did  it  chance  that  Bible- 


Nineteenth  Century.  189 

writers  who  belonged  to  a  "petty,  un- 
successful,   unamiable   people,   without 

politics,     without      science,    StUl  another 

important 

without  art,  without  charm,  que»tioB. 
and  who  lived  in  times  and  among  com- 
munities which  were  ruled  by  immoral 
precepts  and  steeped  in  moral  corrup- 
tions, produced  and  preserved  a  compre- 
hensive code  of  morals  so  faultless  and 
universal  that  it  can  be  practised  by 
all  nations,  and  upon  which  modern  im- 
provement seems  impossible? 

Has  any  explanation  yet  been  given 
at  all  comparable  with  that  claimed  by 
the  writers  themselves,  that  they  were 
aided,  controlled,  "borne  along,"  by  an 
agency  supernatural  and  divine  ?  (Exod. 
iv.  15,  16 ;  Ezek.  iii.  4-10 ;  John  xvi. 
13,14;  Gal.  i.  12;  Rev.  i.  10.) 


190  The  Bible  and  the 

Theological  and  religious  truth  is  the 
last  department  of  knowledge  to  which 
in  this  treatise  attention  is  invited. 

The  reign  of  the  Bible,  especially  in 
the  realms  of  theology,  is  supreme.  It  is 
The  Bible  *^^  basis  of  all  modem  theol- 
and  theology.  Qgjgg .  {^  {g  modem  thcology. 

Without  the  Bible,  our  knowledge  of 
God  seemingly  would  be  almost  total 
darkness.  The  Bible,  in  the  field  of 
pure  and  correct  theological  science,  is 
the  pioneer,  the  explorer,  the  beginning, 
the  end.  Since  the  days  of  John  the 
Apostle,  there  has  been  revealed  to  the 
race,  in  the  field  of  pure  theological 
truth,  not  a  particle  of  new  subject-mat- 
ter. Modern  thought  has  discovered 
not  one  additional  attribute  in  the 
Divine  nature ;  we  know  not  a  syllable 


Nineteenth   Century.  191 

more  respecting  the  end  of  the  world, 
the  coming  of  Christ,  or  of  the  final 
judgment,  of  the  dead,  of  angels,  of 
demons,  of  heaven  and  of  hell,  than 
was  revealed  in  the  Bible  when  it  was 
completed,  sanctioned,  and  committed 
to  the  Christian  Church.  The  apostles 
knew  as  fully  as  do  people  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  dwelling  in  the  most 
enlightened  countries  on  earth,  what 
are  men's  relations  and  obligations  to 
God  and  to  one  another;  and  it  is  the 
knowledge  of  these  relations  which 
constitutes  the  basis  of  all  morality  and 
religion  as  well  as  theology. 

Modern  science  and  philosophy,  in 
the  last  eighteen  hundred  years,  have, 
it  is  true,  confirmed,  and  in  some  in- 
stances have  made  more  vivid,  many 


192  The  Bible  and  the 

theological  truths ;  archaeology  has 
cleared  away  many  difficulties :  but,  we 
Science  COB-     repeat,    science,    philosophy, 

flrms  Bible  i         i  j       n    ^i 

theology,  but  archaeology,  and  all  the  cor- 
adds  Bothing   related  sciences,  have  added 

essentlmlljr  ' 

new.  not    one    new    fundamental 

truth  to  our  theological  knowledge,  and 
have  changed  nothing. 

Other  Bible  truths,  no  doubt,  will  be 
more  fully  confirmed,  or  better  illus- 
trated ;  other  difficulties,  doubtless,  will 
be  cleared  away :  but  to  the  theology  of 
the  Bible,  judging  from  the  past,  there 
will  henceforth  be  nothing  essentially 
new  or  different  added,  and  what  may 
be,  perchance,  for  a  time  taken  away 
by  venturesome  theologians  will  after- 
wards have  to  be  fully  restored. 

In  a  word,  the  writers  of  the  Bible 


Nineteenth  Century.  193 

advanced  so  far  into  the  field  of  pure 
theology,  and  revealed  so  much,  that, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  theology 
cannot  discover  an  essentially  new 
truth,  and  cannot  in  this  repect  be  a 
progressive  science.  The  theology  of 
the  Bible  came  from  the  hand  of  God 
as  the  beautiful  flowers  come,  complete. 
Science  may  name  one  part  of  the  flower 
the  filament,  another  part  the  anther, 
other  parts  the  ovary,  the  style,  and  the 
stigma ;  but  this  nomenclature  contrib- 
utes nothing  either  to  the  perfection  or 
to  the  beauty  of  the  flower.  Such,  too, 
is  Bible  theology.  There  is  a  bare  pos- 
sibility that  theological  nomenclature 
may  be  modified  and  be  made  more  ex- 
act; but  modern  skill  and  wisdom  can, 
in  these  matters,  go  no  farther.     We 


194  The  Bible  and  the 

say  hare  possibility ;  for  it  is  question- 
able if  modern  thought  shall  henceforth 
be  able  essentially  to  modify  that  expo- 
sition and  expression  of  Bible  truth 
which  during  the  last  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  have  been  thought  and 
spoken  by  the  average  Christian  con- 
sciousness of  the  world. 

In  many  respects,  too,  how  radically 
exceptional  is  Bible  theolog}'^ !  Other 
ancient  theologies  are  half  -  truths  : 
Bible  theology,  according  to  the  best 
modern  estimates,  is  the  truth.  Other 
theologies,  even  the  best  of  them,  are 
mixed  with  crudities,  vagaries,  and  even 
vulgarities  of  the  lowest  sort:  Bible 
theology  is  generally  acknowledged  to 
be  pure,  inspiring,  and  ennobling. 

The  same  essentially  is  true  of  the 


Nineteenth  Century.  195 

religion  of  the  Bible.  "The  grand 
peculiarity  of  the  religion  of  the  Scrip- 
tures," as  President  Woolsey  TheBiwe 

and  religions 

says,  "is  that  it  is  intensely  truth, 
moral  and  elevating."  The  only  reli- 
gion of  antiquity  which  "knows  no 
compromise  with  sin,  no  pardon  to  this 
destroyer  of  mankind  and  its  develop- 
ment, only  deadly,  deadly  earnest  com- 
bat till  complete  victory  is  gained,"  is 
that  found  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures.  Biblical  religion,  too, 
is  the  only  one,  ancient  or  modern, 
which  "  does  not  allow  itself  to  be 
dazzled  by  a  brilliant  partial  culture ; 
but  looks  with  calm,  clear  eye  at  the 
death-germ  concealed  in  the  soul,  and 
says  decidedly  and  earnestly,  *  Ye  must 
be  born  again,'  and  then  adds,  'Ye  can 


1^  TJie  Bible  and  the 

be  born  again,'  and  actually  and  truly 
provides  the  means  whereby  man  and 
human  society  may  be  delivered  from 
the  dominion  of  the  powier  inimical  to 
culture,   and   thoroughly   renewed."  — 

Thus  also  in   practical  philanthropy 
the  other  religions  of  the  world,  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  Bible, 

Bible  religion   ^ 

originated      sliow  to  the  pootest  advan- 

practical 

»id]nn>  tage.      Not    at    Athens    or 

'''  Rome,    the    high    places    of 

civilization,  of  political  wisdoffi  and 
■power,  the  chosen  abodes  of  philosophy, 
eloquence,  poetry,  and  artistic  skill,  are 
to  be  found  such  institutions  as  charity 
hospitals  and  asylums.  The  first  hos- 
pital known  in  the  world — unless  an 
Bxception  be  made  in  case  of  ia  small 


Nineteenth  Century.  197 

temple  of  Esculapius  on  an  island  in 
the  Tiber,  where  the  maimed  and  sick 
were  brought  to  be  experimented  upon, 
and  then  "left  to  struggle  in  solitude, 
of  the  pangs  of  death  "  —  was  built  at 
Constantinople  by  a  Christian  bishop  of 
that  city.  The  dispensaries,  convales- 
cent-homes, reformatories,  alms-houses, 
orphanages  ;  asylums  for  the  blind,  the 
deaf,  the  dumb,  the  idiot,  the  insane, 
the  inebriate ;  the  refuges  for  the  fallen ; 
and  other  agencies  for  overtaking  and 
alleviating  the  thousand  ills  of  human 
life, — are  tbe  outgrowth  of  Bible  reli- 
gion. "The  outgrowth  of  modern  civ- 
ilization," does  some  one  say  ?  But,  as 
already  seen,  the  referring  of  these  phi- 
lanthropies to  modern  civilization  does 
not  discharge  thieir  obligation   to  the 


198  Th6  Bible  and  the 

Bible ;  for  modern  civilization  was  ren- 
dered possible  only  through  Bible  faith 
and  practice.  As  Judge  Sir  Allen  Par- 
ker, at  a  public  meeting  in  London,  once 
said,  "  We  live  in  the  midst  of  Wessings 
till  we  are  utterly  insensible  of  the  source 
from  which  they  flow.  We  speak  of  our 
civilization,  our  arts,  our  freedom,  our 
laws,  and  forget  entirely  how  large  a 
share  is  due  to  Christianity.  Blot  it 
out  of  the  pages  of  man's  history,  and 
what  would  his  laws  have  been  ?  what 
his  civilization  ?  Christianity  is  mixed 
up  with  our  very  being  and  our  daily 
life.  There  is  not  a  familiar  object 
around  us  which  does  not  wear  a  differ- 
ent aspect  because  the  light  of  Chris- 
tian love  is  on  it ;  not  a  law  which 
does  not  owe  its  truth  and  gentleness 


Nineteenth  Century.  199 

to  Christianity ;  not  a  custom  which 
cannot  be  traced  in  all  its  holy,  health- 
felt  parts  to  the  gospel." 

Think,  too,  how  adequate  is  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Bible.     There  are   to-day, 
it  is  estimated,  one  billion  B,hie 
three     hundred    thousand  '^^^xo 
souls  on  earth.     And  yet  the  ■"  peoples. 
Bible,   if    its   conditions   are    complied 
with,  is  abundantly  able  to  meet  all  the 
religious   wants   of  all   these   millions. 
And  it  is  the   only  book  that  can   do 
this.     It  is  the  only  book  that  attempts 
to  explain  to  all  their  true  relation  to 
God  and  eternity.     It  is  the  only  book 
that  furnishes   the   prayer,    the    confi- 
dence, and  the  joy  needed  by  the  little 
child    and    the    gray-haired   man,    the 

slave  and  the   king.     It  is   the   only 
14 


200  The  Bible  and  the 

book  that  equally  satisfies  the  man 
workiDg  in  coal-pits  or  sweeping  street- 
crossings,  and  such  men  as  Francis 
Bacon,  John  Herschel,  Michael  Fara- 
day, and  David  Brewster.  It  instructs, 
and  then  wounds  or  heals,  condemns  or 
acquits,  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
on  earth.     Wonderful  book! 

But  the  question  now  confronts  us: 
Why  did  not  some  of  the  philosophers 
„^     „  — those    of  Egypt,    Assyria, 

Why  did  not  bJ  L    ■>  J        ■> 

■omeofthe      Babylon,    Greece,   or   Rome, 

philosophers 

of  the  ancient  who  figured  duHng  the  same 
a  nniTensi  ^gcs  that  witucsscd  the  writ- 
reUfioBi         -j^g  ^^^   compilation   of  the 

Bible  —  give  the  world  books  which  in 
their  theological  and  religious  teachings 
might  equal  or  even  approach  the  Bible  ? 
la  a  human  point  of  view,  those  noted 


Nineteenth  Century.  201 

men  of  antiquity  had  the  same  sources 
flf  information  that  were  available  to  the 
Hebrew  prophets  and  New-Testament 
evangelists ;  and  they  had,  in  many  re- 
spects, even  superior  advantages :  why, 
therefore,  did  they  not  make  discover- 
ies equally  valuable,  and  furnish  data 
equally  full  and  correct  upon  which  to 
base  theological  science?  How  chanced 
it  that  those  Hebrews  alone  rose  in 
theological  and  religious  knowledge 
not  only  above  all  their  contemporaries, 
but  so  far  as  also  to  stand  in  advance 
of  the  best  thinkers  even  in  modern 
times  ?  The  wisest  men  of  the  present 
century  confess  that  they  have  not  yet 
been  able  fully  even  to  explore  the 
profundity  of  Bible  teaching,  and  that 
any  improvement  upon  those  subjects 


202  The  Bible  and  the 

which  the  Bible  was  designed  espe- 
cially to  teach  and  settle  is  out  of  the 
question.  Now,  what  is  or  what  can 
be  the  explanation  of  this  extraordi- 
nary scope  and  sweep  of  vision,  and 
this  grasp  of  theological  and  religious 
knowledge  ?  If  Bible  men  were  moved 
by  a  superior  wisdom  to  write  as  they 
did,  then  the  involved  enigma  is  solved : 
otherwise  does  it  not  remain  unsolved 
and  apparently  insoluble  ? 

When,  therefore,  we  ponder,  as  we 
ought,  the  teachings  of  the  Bible ;  as 
Conciudtag  "^^  think  of  the  accuracy  of 
''"*'*•  the  Bible  in  departments  of 

knowledge  which  in  this  treatise  we 
have  hardly  touched  upon,  —  history, 
chronology,  ethnology,  and  archaeology  ; 
when  we  take  under  review  the  entire 


Nineteenth  Century.  203 

field  over  which,  in  these  pages,  we  have 
tried  to  pass;  when  we  note  the  differ- 
ences, in  so  many  respects,  between  this 
book  and  nearly  all  other  ancient  litera- 
ture ;  as  we  trace  the  harmonies  between 
its  revelations  and  the  most  recent  dis- 
coveries and  facts  of  modern  research: 
what  shall  be  said  of  the  narrowness, 
determined  blindness,  and  wilful  mis- 
representations of  men  who  continue  to 
rank  its  revelations  with  the  myths  of 
Egypt  and  Babylon,  of  Greece  and 
Rome  ? 

In  view,  therefore,  of  what  the  Bible 
is  and  of  what  it  has  done,  need  there 
be  any  surprise  that  a  wide-spread  con- 
viction, which  is  more  and  more  to 
deepen,  has  taken  possession  of  the 
best  minds  in  modem  times,  that  noth- 


204  The  Bible  and  the 

ing  of  so  much  value  as  the  Bible  has 
yet  appeared  in  the  majestic  evolution 
of  this  world's  history,  except  the  One 
who  is  the  chief  glory  of  all  its  pages, 
Christ  the  Saviour  and  the  King  ? 

Need  there  be  any  hesitation  in  say- 
ing, if  we  may  judge  by  the  past,  that 
after  the  philosophies  and  the  sciences 
shall  have  run  their  small  or  mighty 
rounds  of  investigation,  and  after  men 
of  the  broadest  culture  shall  have  re- 
turned from  their  most  daring  explora- 
tions, in  the  heavens  above  and  in  the 
earth  beneath,  even  then  the  Bible  will 
be  found  by  curious  hints  or  by  ex- 
plicit statements  to  have  anticipated,  or 
at  least  to  be  in  harmony  with,  their 
grandest  discoveries  ?  Marvellous  Book, 
thy  conquest  shall  yet  be  complete  I 


Nineteenth  Century.  205 

But,  among  all  these  considerations, 
let  no  one  be  disregard ful  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  this  same  Bible,  wondrously 
correct  in  its  revelations,  which  speaks 
of  an  endless  life  for  all,  of  joy  un- 
speakable for  the  righteous,  of  anguish 
unmitigated  for  the  unrighteous,  and  of 
an  atonement  for  those  who  comply 
with  its  sacred  conditions.  If,  there- 
fore,  these  solemn  announcements  as  to 
death  and  the  judgment,  heaven  and 
hell,  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
can  never  in  this  world  be  disproved, 
shall  at  the  end  of  things  be  found 
true,  how,  in  that  unexplored  hereafter, 
will  stand  affairs  with  each  one  who 
now  closes  the  perusal  of  these  pages? 


bs 

SW 


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